Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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635. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the extent to which promotional vacancies remain to be filled in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps; the steps he is taking for recruitment throughout Ireland and especially in counties Sligo and Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14977/17]

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, comprising of 7,520 Army, 886 Air Corps and 1,094 Naval Service personnel, as stated in the 2015 White Paper on Defence.

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. 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. I am advised by the Military Authorities that the Defence Forces are planning to induct 860 new entrants across all services and competition streams in 2017.

A new General Service Recruitment campaign was launched on 23 February 2017, as part of the Government’s commitment to maintain the strength of the Defence Forces at 9,500 personnel. To publicise this recruitment campaign, an Interactive recruitment video was launched on 10 March 2017. In addition, a Recruitment Roadshow will take place between 23 March 2017 and 4 April 2017. The Roadshow will visit every Military Barracks in the country and provide an opportunity for potential Recruits to be immersed in a capability display, a virtual reality experience, and receive fitness testing briefs with an opportunity to speak to young soldiers serving today.

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. The 2017 Cadetship competitions were launched on 22 March 2017.

Direct Entry Competitions are also held as required from which specialist appointments are filled. A recruitment campaign for the appointment of Direct Entry Naval Service Officers, in the Operations Branch, Marine Engineer Branch and Electrical Engineer Branch of the Naval Service, is currently on-going.

In relation to promotional vacancies, promotions are ongoing within the Officer ranks in order to fill rank vacancies. A new NCO promotion competition, to fill vacancies to the ranks of Sergeants and above, has been launched. Promotions from the Order of Merit Lists from this competition will commence in Q3 2017. Promotions at Corporal rank take place at formation/service level when vacancies arise within Units and where there are qualified personnel in these Units to fill the appointments.

It is my intention that targeted recruitment along with promotions , will continue to be carried out within the resource envelope allocated to Defence.