Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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75. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to initiate a new recruitment campaign for the Permanent Defence Force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7332/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, 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 as stated in the 2015 White Paper on Defence. I am advised by the Military Authorities that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force, as of the 31 December, 2016 was 9,126 personnel, comprising: - Army: 7,332 personnel, - Naval Service: 1,090 personnel and - Air Corps: 704 personnel.

The manpower requirement of the Defence Forces is monitored on an ongoing basis in accordance with the operational requirements of each of the three services. Plans are being put in place to run a new General Service recruitment competition in the coming weeks. The intake of Cadets into the Permanent Defence Force is normally carried out on an annual basis, taking into consideration the operational requirements of the Defence Forces and the resource envelope allocated to Defence. It is planned to launch the 2017 Cadetship competitions shortly. Direct Entry Competitions are also held as required from which specialist appointments are filled. General Service recruitment and recruitment of further apprentices is also planned for 2017.

I am advised by the military authorities that their planned target is to induct approximately 860 new entrants to the Defence Forces across all services and competition streams in 2017. In 2016, 690 new entrants were inducted (590 General Service and 100 Cadets).

With the support of the Chief of Staff and within the resources available, it is intended 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.