Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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100. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of personnel in the Permanent Defence Forces from 2013 to date in 2021; the pay bill for the Defence Forces as a percentage of the gross Exchequer civil and public service pay bill for the same time period in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6126/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The table below contains details of the strength and pay bill of the Permanent Defence Force from 2013 to 31st December 2020, the latest date for which such information is available:

*Based on provisional data at year end

Information on comparisons between expenditure on Defence Forces pay, relative to the wider Public Service, is a matter for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

The Government remains committed to restoring the strength of the Permanent Defence Force to 9,500 personnel and the Defence Budget provides funding for this full establishment strength.