Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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220. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of soldiers currently serving in the Air Corps; and the rank or position they hold. [14648/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The following table shows the numbers of Defence Forces personnel at all ranks serving with the Air Corps as at 28 February 2017, the latest date for which figures are available:

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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221. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of vacancies currently in the Air Corps; and the length of time these positions have been vacant, in tabular form. [14649/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The following table shows the distribution of personnel across all ranks of the Air Corps compared with the “Establishment” strength figure for equivalent ranks and the resulting numbers of vacancies per rank as at 28 February 2017, the latest date for which figures are available:

Following agreement with PDFORRA, a competition was recently launched for promotions for enlisted personnel across all ranks and vacancies will be filed from panels established following completion of these competitions.

The Military Personnel Management system does not record the length of time any particular position has been vacant. Due to the complexity of the task and the resources required, it is not possible to provide a complete breakdown of vacancies for all roles in the Air Corps for a specific given period of time.

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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222. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to address the severe staff shortages in the Air Corps and the lack of experienced personnel available. [14650/17]

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. The manpower requirement 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.

Given the improvement in the domestic economy and demand for experienced pilots, the retention of experienced Pilot Officers in the Air Corps has been a significant challenge for the Defence Organisation in recent years, and there has been an outflow of experienced Air Corps Pilot Officers, both rotary and fixed wing. A Working Group comprised of Civil and Military personnel was established to look at ways of addressing the issue of how to retain sufficiently experienced Pilot Officers within the Air Corps. The Working Group’s report contained a number of recommendations ranging from increasing recruitment levels to examining the current terms and conditions of pilots. Work on the implementation of the Working Group’s recommendations is currently ongoing by both Civil and Military staff of the Defence Organisation. While there are a number of initiatives underway, realistically it will take time for a return to previous levels of capability in the Air Corps as pilots within the system progress to become aircraft commanders and newly qualified cadets become co-pilots.

There are currently three Cadet classes totalling 27 personnel at various stages of the Wings Course (this is reduced from the 28 previously reported, where one person has been unable to continue their pilot training) with 7 currently undergoing flight training, and four Apprentice Technician classes totalling 41 personnel in training with 5 due to qualify this summer.

The 2017 Cadetship competition was launched yesterday Wednesday 22 March with a planned intake of up to 12 Cadets in Quarter 3 of 2017. The Defence Forces also plan to launch an Air Corps Trainee Military Aircraft Technician competition in early Summer this year, from which it is planned to induct up to 25 Apprentice Technicians in Autumn 2017.