Written answers
Tuesday, 2 November 2004
Department of Defence
Defence Forces Training
9:00 pm
Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 493: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of craft personnel trained by FÁS specifically for the Defence Forces over each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27172/04]
Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The number of Defence Force personnel who underwent training with FÁS over the past three years is as follows:
| Year | Army | Naval Service | Air Corps |
| 2002 | 95 | Figures not readily available | Nil |
| 2003 | 140 | 57 | Nil |
| 2004 | 139 | 39 | Nil |
Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 494: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of craft personnel within the Defence Forces; the number of apprentices accepted into the Defence Forces over each of the past three years; the way in which this compares with the years during which the Army apprenticeship school was in existence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27173/04]
Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The number of enlisted personnel in receipt of additional pay in respect of filling a technical appointment within the Defence Forces as at 1 November 2004 is 4,629. In total, 73 Air Corps apprentices have been enlisted in the Permanent Defence Force over the last three years. At present, a competition is underway from which it is intended to enlist a further 15 Air Corps apprentices.
Prior to the closure of the Army Apprentice School on 30 September 1998 the number of apprentices who qualified in the Defence Forces in each of the previous four years were as follows:
| Trade Category | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 |
| Electricians | 9 | 8 | 5 | — |
| Fitter Turners | 9 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Motor Mechanics | 4 | 6 | 9 | — |
| Radio Technicians | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
| Carpenters | 8 | 8 | 8 | — |
| Electricians Servicers Technicians | — | 3 | — | 2 |
| Total | 33 | 32 | 33 | 11 |
With the closure of the Army Apprentice School, Army trainee technicians attend at FÁS courses and-or courses provided by the various regional technical colleges-institutes of technology, as had been the situation with Naval Service apprentices.
The number of Defence Force personnel who underwent training with FÁS over the past three years is as follows:
| Year | Army | Naval Service | Air Corps |
| 2002 | 95 | Figures not readily available | Nil |
| 2003 | 140 | 57 | Nil |
| 2004 | 139 | 39 | Nil |
I am satisfied with the level of apprentice and trainee technicians training over the last number of years.
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