Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 113: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of personnel currently serving in the Defence Force; the number in each service, army, naval service and air corps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1913/10]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 117: To ask the Minister for Defence the strength of the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1976/10]

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 122: To ask the Minister for Defence the strength of the Army, Air Corps and the Naval Service; the way these compare with the establishment level in each case; his plans for recruitment to the Defence Forces during 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1970/10]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 267: To ask the Minister for Defence the strength of the Defence Forces at present; if this is sufficient to meet all requirements including overseas deployments; if it is intended or expected to increase the strength of the forces in the foreseeable future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2609/10]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 113, 117, 122 and 267 together.

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.

The recent Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes recommended that the number of personnel in the Permanent Defence Force be reduced by 500 over a two to three year period as "operational requirements allow." The reality is that based on current trends, numbers are already reducing within the Permanent Defence Force. The Defence Forces, as do all military organisations, have an unusually high turnover of people on an ongoing basis in order to maintain the age and fitness profile.

I am advised by the Military authorities that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force as at 31 December, 2009 was 9,933, comprising 8,095 Army, 801 Air Corps and 1,037 Naval Service.

I am advised that at this time the Defence Forces retain the capacity to undertake the tasks laid down by Government at home and overseas. Under the UNSAS commitment, we have provided for a total overseas deployment of up to 850 personnel at any one time. Our UNSAS commitment remains unchanged.

I am acutely aware of the impact of the moratorium on the Defence Forces particularly in light of the very high turnover rate that is part of any military organization. I am monitoring the impact on an ongoing basis in conjunction with the Chief of Staff and Department officials. As part of this process specific requirements have been identified and I am in ongoing contact with my colleague the Minister for Finance with regard to these exceptions to the moratorium which are targeted at maintaining the operational capability and command arrangements of the Defence Forces.

To date I have obtained sanction to fill a number of key posts, including Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations), two Brigadier–General posts, and the Director of Military Prosecutions post. I have also received sanction for 100 acting up posts to service operational requirements both at home and overseas. In addition I secured approval for the recruitment of 42 cadets. Furthermore the promotion of 10 Non commissioned Officers whose promotions had been in progress prior to the Moratorium has now been finalized.

In addition to the aforementioned an allocation of 50 promotions has been approved for the Permanent Defence Force by the Minister for Finance. These promotions were approved to address priority operational and command requirements of the Permanent Defence Force.

These promotions therefore must be allocated in a manner that gives protection to the operational capacity of the Defence Forces. The allocation must be balanced across both officer and enlisted ranks having regard to the operational requirements of the Defence Forces. Military management has been reviewing existing vacancies in all ranks across the organisation as a whole, so as to prioritise those to be filled from the approved promotions.

Following on from the Military review a number of priority posts have now been identified and I am pleased to confirm that 9 Officer promotions and 27 enlisted promotions have now been progressed. Some have been completed and the remainder will be completed in the coming days. A number of senior technical officer vacancies also have to be filled and competitions are being organized to fill these posts. The residual approved promotions will be used to fill priority posts arising in the next few months. In addition approximately 30 vacancies will be filled through acting up appointments in the coming weeks.

Within the available resources, I am committed to maintaining the strength of the Defence Forces at a level of 10,000 all ranks, for which I have secured Government approval in the context of Budget 2010. This reflects the reductions in personnel recommended in the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes.

My officials are continuing to engage with the Military Authorities in relation to the review of structures and posts required to meet the operational requirements of the Defence Forces in light of the Government decision to maintain a complement of 10,000 personnel.

The Defence Forces have improved in every respect since 2000 through the implementation of the White Paper. This represents a significant public success story. However the economic reality is such that the Defence Organisation must contribute to the correction of the public finances. I intend, with the support of the Chief of Staff and within the resources available, to retain the capacity of the organisation to operate effectively across all roles while contributing to the necessary public service economies.