James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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493. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the strength of the Permanent Defence Force as of 30 June 2020; if he will provide a breakdown of each rank across the three services; the gender breakdown of same in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15609/20]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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495. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of additional recruits to the Permanent Defence Force to date in 2020 with regard to each of the three services; the gender breakdown of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15611/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 493 and 495 together.

The attached tables contain the information requested by the Deputy.

The Government remains committed to returning to, and maintaining the agreed strength of each branch of the Irish Permanent Defence Force. However, the capacity of the Defence Forces toinduct and train recruits has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 situation. This has resulted in the postponement of the majority of inductions in the year to date.

The military authorities have advised that, while the Defence Forces continued those aspects of the induction process that could be conducted remotely throughout the year, they are now resuming inductions and training, taking public health guidelines into account.  The Defence Forces continue to assess the impact such public health guidelines will have on their training capacity.  A campaign to re-enlist former members of the Permanent Defence Force, to fill certain vacancies, is also underway.

">Rank, Service and Gender

">Inductions by Branch and Gender