Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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33. To ask the Minister for Defence the number of Defence Forces personnel participating in overseas missions; the number of missions, their type and location; and the plans to increase the Permanent Defence Force complement to the agreed strength, so as to ensure that overseas missions are not impacted. [6898/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As of 1 February 2015, Ireland is contributing approximately 432 Defence Forces personnel to 11 missions throughout the world. Full details of all personnel currently serving overseas including the lead organisation for each mission are listed in the tabular statement attached. In addition to the personnel listed in the tabular statement there is one officer deployed to the Embassy of Ireland in Freetown, Sierra Leone under the Emergency Civilian Assistance Team initiative, to assist in Ireland’s Response to the Ebola Crisis in West Africa.

The main overseas missions in which Defence Forces personnel are currently deployed are the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with 199 personnel, and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in Syria with 138 Defence Forces personnel.

The current contribution of some 432 personnel to overseas missions reflects the Government’s continued commitment to our responsibilities in the area of international peace and security.

The overall strength ceiling for the Defence Forces has been stabilised by Government at 9,500.  The actual serving strength as at 31st December 2014 was 9,275.  It is planned that the recruitment of up to an additional 360 personnel, (280 army recruits and 80 Naval Service recruits), to take account of some departures that might arise this year, will take place on a phased basis in 2015 in an effort to keep the number of serving personnel as close as possible to the overall strength ceiling of 9,500.

I remain satisfied that the number serving within the Defence Forces is and will continue to be sufficient to meet all of the demands on the Defence Forces including overseas service requirements.

As of 01 February 2015