Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 187: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of members of the Permanent Defence Force who since the announcement of the closure of the barracks in Cavan, Mullingar and Clonmel have taken early retirement or are due to retire before the end of March 2012; the number of members at each location; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12116/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The number of members of the Permanent Defence Force who, since the announcement of the closure of the Barracks in Cavan, Mullingar and Clonmel have taken early retirement or are due to retire before the end of February 2012, the latest date for which figures are available, is as follows:-

The military authorities advise that they do not anticipate that any personnel currently stationed in the three Barracks will retire during March 2012.

It is the Government's intention that the Defence Forces retain the capacity to operate effectively across all of the assigned roles to them. It was against this backdrop, and having regard to restricted financial allocations, that the Government decided to maintain the strength of the Permanent Defence Force at 9,500 personnel. This recognises the significant modernisation that has been achieved to date.

In response to this revised strength ceiling of 9,500, there will be a major re-organisation of the Defence Forces encompassing a reduction in the number of Army Brigades from three to two. I have asked the Chief of Staff and the Secretary General of the Department of Defence to bring forward detailed proposals for my consideration.

Having said that, I recognise that the departure of the number of personnel outlined earlier, over a short period, will require close monitoring, particularly where vacancies arise in critical appointments. In order to address this issue, it is envisaged that limited promotion competitions will take place to provide candidates to fill critical vacancies. In addition, within the agreed 2012 estimates, limited recruitment will be undertaken in 2012. Throughout this process careful monitoring will take place to ensure that any problems arising are managed in the interim period.