Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 15: To ask the Minister for Defence if the Department of Finance has indicated the amount of money to be deducted from his Department's vote in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42179/09]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The allocation for my Department for 2010 will be decided by the Government in the context of the on-going Estimates and Budgetary process.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for Defence his views on whether the target for pay bill cuts of 6.85% will be met by the Permanent Defence Forces by the end of 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42191/09]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Defence Forces have improved in every respect since 2000 through the implementation of the White Paper. This represents a significant public service success story and has been acknowledged by both the Taoiseach and myself. Arising from the White Paper on Defence, we have created a modern well-equipped Defence Forces capable of meeting the needs of Government and the public and ensuring value for money.

The White Paper on Defence set out a figure of 10,500 personnel for the Permanent Defence Force as the strength sufficient to deliver on the roles laid down by Government for domestic operations and to provide a sufficient pool for rotation for overseas missions as well as maintaining sufficient depth across the required range of skills. The strength of the Defence Forces at 31 October 2009 was 10,013. This reduction has resulted from the moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public service introduced by the Government in March of this year. I am acutely aware of the impact of the moratorium on the Permanent Defence Force particularly in light of the very high turnover rate that is part of any military organisation. I am addressing the impact of the moratorium with my colleague the Minister for Finance.

The Deputy will be aware that discussions are ongoing with the public sector trade unions affiliated to ICTU about mechanisms to deliver the required savings of up to €1.3 billion in the public sector pay bill in 2010. Discussions are also taking place between officials of my Department and the Associations representing members of the Permanent Defence Force in parallel. While I would not wish to anticipate the outcome of these various discussions, it is my view that any agreement reached will apply across all sectors of the public service. I do not therefore foresee the required adjustment in pay levels being offset against a reduction in numbers on a sector specific basis in the context of the savings required in 2010.

Planned expenditure levels for my Department will be considered as part of the Estimates and budgetary process for 2010. This will include consideration of the report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes and the decisions on all of the issues arising will be a matter for the Government. It would therefore not be appropriate for me to comment any further at this stage pending the outcome of these deliberative processes.