Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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234. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the current force strength of the permanent Defence Forces; the breakdown of the current number of serving members in the Naval Service, Army and Air Corps; the funded establishment strength of each; the number of vacant posts remaining to be filled at all levels in each service, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11325/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As of the 31 January 2025, the military authorities advise that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,497 personnel. The table at the link below provides the establishment and current strength, by Branch and rank, in addition to the variances between those figures that detail over establishment (+) and vacancies (-).

A total of 708 personnel were inducted into the Permanent Defence Force in 2024. The induction figure for last year compares favourably with previous induction figures of 415 in 2023 and 435 in 2022 and represents the highest number of inductions since 2017.

Further encouraging trends may be gleaned from the discharges figure for last year of 674. This is 81 fewer than the previous year and the lowest in four years. Overall, these figures suggest a plateauing in the downward trend in numbers; however much remains to be done.

It should be noted that interest in a career in the Defence Forces grew significantly during 2024 with a total of 13,384 applications received across all competitions- an increase of 33% on the previous year.

Budget 2025 provided a record allocation of €1.35 billion for the Defence Sector, an increase of €100 million. In relation to specific recruitment targets, this allocation provides for the recruitment of at least a net additional 400 personnel per annum.

Vacancies are filled in line with promotional arrangements, as appropriate, and by recruitment.

Whilst there are still undoubtedly challenges, significant progress has been made on a number of fronts and the allocation of record levels of expenditure to the Defence sector is illustrative of my intent in this regard.