Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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110. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the strength of the permanent Defence Force as of 31 March 2025 or the latest date available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17830/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The military authorities have advised that, as of the 28 February 2025, the latest date such figures are available for, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,502 personnel.

The recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces have been previously acknowledged. To address these, a range of measures have been implemented. These include an increase in recruitment age to 39 years for those roles that had a recruitment age below that, and to 50 years for Direct Entry Specialists. The mandatory retirement age has been increased to 62. Private secondary healthcare has been rolled out to all PDF members. The Patrol Duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea has been doubled and the Naval Service tax credit has been extended for a further five years.

There has also been significant progress on pay in recent years. Recruits on completion of training now start at €41,465 in Year 1, school leaver Cadets upon commissioning earn €45,341, whilst in full time education and the starting pay of a graduate cadet on commissioning is €50,667, inclusive of Military Service Allowance.

The Defence Forces have engaged a Marketing and Media partner to assist with recruitment advertising to ensure engagement with the recruitment demographic across social media and other media platforms. Specific advertising for specialist recruitment is placed in industry specific publications and websites. The Defence Forces continue to broadcast this message through regular visits to schools and Education and Training Boards, in addition to frequent attendance at recruitment and career fairs/events. Furthermore, transition year students can avail of placements within the Defence Forces to undertake various programmes, across a number of locations, demonstrating career opportunities.

Interest in a career in the Defence Forces increased robustly in 2024 with a total of 13,384 applications received across all competitions. This continues to be the case in 2025 with in excess of 2,000 applications have been received as of the 28th February, the latest date for which this figure is available.

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.

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.