Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

182. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of vacancies for doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists currently within Defence Forces Medical Corps; and the estimated timeframe for filling each of the vacancies, in tabular form. [5972/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The current number of vacancies for each of the requested positions are as follows:

A Review of the provision of Medical Services has recently been received and is under consideration by civil and military management. The Review will inform future recruitment within the Defence Forces Medical Corps. For the Deputy's awareness the filling of Medical Officer positions is undertaken on an ongoing basis.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

183. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if there are plans during 2025 to issue a tender for the provision of a replacement for the LÉ Róisín. [5973/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are no plans to issue a tender in 2025 for the provision of a replacement for LÉ Róisín, which has recently completed a mid life extension programme.

Equipment priorities for the Defence Forces are considered in the context of the established capability development and Equipment Development Planning (EDP) processes underpinned by significant increases in funding, with Budget 2025 provided a record allocation of €1.35 billion for the Defence Sector, an increase of €100 million over the 2024 allocation.

Further additions to the EDP are kept under consideration, including in the context of the Government’s decision to move to Level of Ambition 2 (LOA2), in light of specific recommendations made in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces and commitments in the Programme for Government.

The Commission on the Defence Forces specifically recommended an accelerated programme of naval vessel replacement, to ensure a balanced fleet of nine modern ships is reached by early in the next decade. This recommendation has been accepted in principle by Government and planning is underway for the potential procurement of a multi-role vessel (MRV) for the Naval Service, which would bring to nine the number of ships in the fleet.

This potential procurement is being examined by marine advisors and work is currently underway that will inform next steps in this regard in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

184. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of persons, by gender currently in recruit training in each of the three branches of the Defence Forces, in tabular form. [5974/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The military authorities have provided the requested information, as at 12 February 2025, on the breakdown by gender of General Service Recruits (GSR) in recruit training for each of the three branches of the Defence Forces. The information is outlined in the table below.

In addition to the above, a further 194 Army recruits have progressed to Private 2* training and 13 of these are female.