Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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111. To ask the Minister for Defence the number of additional recruits the Defence Forces have taken on to date in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48690/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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A new recruitment campaign for Enlisted Personnel in both the Permanent and Reserve Defence Force was launched in March 2014. The Military Authorities have advised that, to date, from this recruitment campaign a total of 443 recruits have been inducted to the Permanent Defence Force, of which 360 remain in training. A total of 152 personnel have been inducted to the Reserve Defence Force.

General Service recruitment to the Permanent Defence Force will continue in 2015 from the recruitment panels formed from the current General Service recruitment competition .

As a continuation of the March 2014 recruitment campaign the Defence Forces were accepting applications for the RDF up to 14 November 2014. The selection process for enlistment in the Reserve Defence Force is continuing. Future recruitment into the RDF will be informed by Reserve strength figures.

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.