Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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117. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of Army personnel who left employment early in each year since 2010; the number who made a payment to the Defence Forces and-or his Department as a result of ending their contract early; the amount paid in each year by such persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23843/19]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The following table provides details of the total number of personnel discharged from the army from 2010 to 2018.

There are a range of reasons why personnel retire from the Defence Forces.

*Discharge by purchase occurs when a non commissioned officer or private elects to leave the Defence Forces and pays an appropriate sum to discharge, in accordance with Defence Force Regulation A10 Paragraph 61 (3). Recruits can also elect to discharge by purchase and a significant proportion of recruits, approx. 22% on average, depart from the Defence Forces during the training phase for various reasons.

**Voluntary early retirements occur when personnel wish to end their service at break points before reaching the mandatory retirement age limit for his/her respective rank. These retirements occur at the persons own request, at his/her request after 12 years, expiry of PDF service, on pension after 21 years or on termination of engagement.

***Other discharges include retirement on age grounds, death, below medical standards, service no longer required, or unlikely to become effective.

The amount paid by those who purchased their discharge in the period mentioned in the question could not be ascertained in the timeframe set out for reply and I will revert once the figures are provided to me.