Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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56. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of members of the Defence Forces that have returned in each of the past five years to date; the number of new recruits by way of replacement in the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3676/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The table shows the number of personnel who were discharged over the past five years and the number of new personnel inducted for the same period.

Discharges includes personnel who left for a variety of reasons including on age grounds, at end of contract and voluntary discharges. Included in this number is the number of recruits who exited prior to completion of training (shown in brackets). Inductions includes general service recruits, cadets, apprentices and direct entry posts.

I can confirm that similar recruitment to 2017 levels will take place this year and plans for this are currently being finalised between civil and military management. At this point it is not possible to predict precise numbers that will be recruited but it is anticipated that this will be in the region of 800 personnel, comprising of General Service Recruits, Apprentices, Cadets and Direct Entry Officers.

As I have previously outlined there are particular challenges with vacancies in certain specialist posts such as Pilots, Air Traffic Controllers and certain Technicians. These specialists can prove difficult to retain where, as in the current economic circumstances, there are ongoing private sector and commercial semi-state sector job opportunities.

To address these difficulties, a range of recruitment methods are being employed including direct entry competitions for specialist positions. I have directed the civil and military management to develop proposals for expanding such direct entry recruitment of specialists and a scheme to facilitate former PDF personnel with appropriate skill-sets to re-enter the Defence Forces.

The Public Service Pay Commission will further examine the issue of retention of specialist personnel in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020

In tandem with these actions my Department is also engaged in planning on a longer term basis. Projects arising from the White Paper on Defence around topics such as medium term manpopwer planning and encouraging as wide a pool as possible for recruitment are already underway. Further projects, scheduled to begin shortly will address issues such as age profiles and a gap analysis of skill-sets within the PDF. The gap analysis will help to identify the frequency of such gaps and identify appropriate measures to address them.

With the support of the Chief of Staff, I remain committed to maximising recruitment to ensure that the Defence Forces are staffed in a manner that will enable them to continue to deliver the services required of them by Government.