James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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601. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the strength of the Permanent Defence Forces as of 30 July 2020; if he will provide a breakdown of all ranks across the three services; the gender breakdown of same in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20607/20]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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603. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of additional recruits to the Permanent Defence Forces to date in 2020 with regard to all three services; the gender breakdown of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20609/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 601 and 603 together.

The attached document provides the strength of the Permanent Defence Force as at the 30th June 2020 (the latest figures available), broken down by rank, service and gender.

The capacity of the Defence Forces toinduct and train recruits was severely impacted by the COVID-19 situation but those aspects of the induction process that could be conducted remotely continued throughout the year and inductions/training have been resumed taking public health guidelines into account.  

The table below shows the total inductions to the Permanent Defence Force up to 28th July 2020, broken down by branch and gender. This encompasses general service recruits, re-commissioned officers and direct entrant specialists.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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602. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the strength of the Reserve Defence Forces as of 30 July 2020; if he will provide a breakdown of all ranks across the three services; the gender breakdown of same in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20608/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Reserve Defence Force (RDF) is comprised of the First Line Reserve (FLR), the Army Reserve (AR) and the Naval Service Reserve (NSR). 

The most up to date figures available for the effective strength of the Army Reserve (AR) and Naval Service Reserve (NSR), as of 30 June 2020, are set out below:

The substantive strength of the First Line Reserve (FLR) for the same period is as follows:- 

*The gender breakdown of the FLR is not available

End of month returns are collated at the mid-month point of the following month and hence July 2020 returns are not available at this time.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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604. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of additional recruits to the Reserve Defence Forces to date in 2020 with regard to all three services; the gender breakdown of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20610/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the military authorities that 44 new members have been inducted into the Army Reserve (AR) and Naval Service Reserve (NSR) from 1 January to 28 July 2020, broken down as follows:

AR and NSR Inductions

While a recruitment campaign for the AR and NSR was opened in March 2020, the restrictions imposed in the interests of public health as a result of the Covid 19 Pandemic have had a significant impact on many Defence Forces activities, particularly those involving collective training. As such, it has been difficult to conduct RDF inductions.

The Government remains committed to on-going recruitment in the AR and NSR. I am advised that, while there are no specific dates as of yet, it is anticipated that another recruitment campaign for the AR and NSR will be opened in autumn 2020.