Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 353: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of vacancies in the Air Corps and Naval Service by rank.. [20017/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The approved Employment Control Framework for the Permanent Defence Force is based on a figure of 10,000 all ranks, appropriately configured across the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. In 2011, the Defence Organisation, like all areas of the public service, is operating on a reduced budget. The Programme for Government also sets out a target for further fiscal consolidation over the period to 2015.

I am advised by the Military Authorities that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force as of 30 June 2011, the latest date for which figures are available, was 9,595 comprising 7,802 Army, 785 Air Corps and 1,008 Naval Service personnel. In the context of the Employment Control Framework and the available resource envelope, the Military Authorities and officials of the Department are now in the process of agreeing a re-structuring of the Permanent Defence Force to ensure its capability to meet the roles assigned to it by Government. The appropriate numbers required by rank in the Naval Services and Air Corps and the number of vacancies to be filled have yet to be determined as part of these discussions.

Overall numbers in the Permanent Defence Force, including numbers serving at various ranks, and those serving in each branch, will be subject to ongoing control and monitoring on a monthly basis. This is to ensure compliance within the overall parameters and controls set by Government for each sector. The ECF also sets out that it will be necessary to underpin the re-organisation with the required amendments to Regulations and Administrative Instructions. The Government's decisions arising from the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure will further inform the resource envelope available for Defence over the coming years and the priorities within Defence.