Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The strength of the Permanent Defence Force on 31 December 2006, the latest date for which detailed figures are available, as advised by the military authorities was 10,477. A detailed breakdown of the numbers in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps by rank and gender are in the form of the following Tabular Statement.

The White Paper on Defence of February 2000 sets out a figure of 10,500 personnel for the Permanent Defence Force, comprising 930 for the Air Corps, 1,144 for the Naval Service and 8,426 for the Army. It is my intention to maintain the established Government policy of ongoing recruitment to the Defence Forces. Recruitment into the Permanent Defence Force will continue to maintain the strength at the level set out in the White Paper as required to meet military needs.