Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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106. To ask the Minister for Defence the extent to which recruitment in the Defence Forces has met requirements in terms of ensuring the viability and sustainability of the various branches of the forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43735/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to maintaining the stabilised strength of the Permanent Defence Force at 9,500 personnel, comprising of 7,520 Army, 886 Air Corps and 1,094 Naval Service. I am advised by the Military Authorities that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force, at 30 September 2014, the latest date for which details are available, was 9,200 comprising 7,413 Army, 757 Air Corps and 1,030 Naval Service. The manpower requirement of the Permanent Defence Force is monitored on an ongoing basis in accordance with the operational requirements of each of the three services. As there is significant turnover of personnel in the Permanent Defence Force targeted recruitment has been, and is currently taking place, so as to maintain the agreed strength levels and to ensure the ongoing deployable capacity of the Defence Forces on operations.

To this end, from the General Service Recruitment Competition, launched earlier this year, 441 recruits have been enlisted to the Army and Naval Service since 18 August, of which 385 remain in training. It is intended that General Service recruitment will continue in 2015 from the recruitment panels formed from the current competition.In addition, 37 Cadets from the 2014 Cadetship Competition are in training , since 6 October 2014, in the Defence Forces Cadet School.

Direct Entry Competitions are held as required from which specialist appointments are filled. A competition for the recruitment of 5 Engine Room Artificers for the Naval Service is currently underway, with a closing date of 14 November 2014 while a competition for the appointment of Doctors remains open with applications being accepted on an ongoing basis.

With the support of the Chief of Staff and within the resources available, I intend to retain the capacity of the Defence Forces to operate effectively across all roles and to undertake the tasks laid down by Government both at home and overseas.

PDF Strength by Rank as at 30 September 2014 versus PDF Rank Establishment of 9,500