Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

The first thing I will say, and I know we will all join in this, is that debates about triple locks and all that are terribly important but in the here and now there are men and women being deployed overseas. I had the honour of reviewing the 127th battalion that is heading out as part of the UNIFIL mission to southern Lebanon imminently, this month. We thank the 362 men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann for that. I make that point because we get to talk about things in the abstract here. These are 362 men and women who are going to contribute to our very long, decades-old peacekeeping involvement in southern Lebanon.

On the broad issue of recruitment and the impact of recruitment and numbers for the security and defence of the country, our programme for Government sets out a number of commitments relating to national security as well as priorities for recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces.

In this regard, the previous Government approved a move to a Permanent Defence Force capability equivalent to level of ambition 2, which requires us to get to an establishment figure of 11,500, including a civilian component, by 2028. To support this and the implementation of related measures, the recent budget provided a record allocation of €1.49 billion for the defence sector, an increase of €145 million on 2025. These funds include, among other things, a provision for the recruitment of a net 400 additional Permanent Defence Force members per annum.

In order to meet Government targets, the Defence Forces are making concerted efforts to ramp up recruitment. Last year, for the first time in a long time, there was a stabilisation in numbers, with 708 inductions to the Permanent Defence Force and discharges of 674. That was the first year for a long time there was a net increase, albeit small, in personnel. I am pleased to say that signs for the year to date give cause for further positivity - I was briefed on this by the Chief of Staff yesterday. Application numbers already exceed the total for last year and discharges are significantly fewer than this time last year. There are many more people applying and fewer people seeking to be discharged.

We have tried to introduce a range of measures to support and bolster Defence Forces recruitment, and perhaps I can come back on them in a moment.

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