John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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392. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the established figure and the current total strength of Air Corps personnel; and the number of qualified military pilots, cadet pilots in training, qualified military aircraft maintenance technicians, qualified military avionics technicians and military apprentices in training of both disciplines. [54170/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The military authorities have advised that, on the 3rd November 2021, the current strength of the Air Corps stood at 748 wholetime equivalent personnel, while the establishment strength is 886. The table below shows the requested breakdown of personnel, on the same date:

Cadets are scheduled to commence their Pilot Wings course once they graduate as Officers.

Of the 68 apprentices, 24 are undergoing basic military training along with 3 Direct Entry Aircraft Technicians. The remaining 44 apprentices are undergoing their qualification process and will be streamed into Rotary, Fixed Wing or avionics technician categories during that process.

My focus remains on retaining/restoring all branches of the Defence Forces at their full capacity, but there is no quick fix to the current challenges. In that context, there has been significant work undertaken to date, and such work continues, but it will take time to see the full effect of the measures introduced.