Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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170. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the strength of the Naval Service personnel at the year-end in 2022, 2023 and 2024; and his plans to step up recruitment in the coming period, specifically referring to recruitment targets. [17826/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The military authorities have advised that the strength of the Naval Service stood at 798 in 2022, 725 in 2023, 719 in 2024 and 745 as of the 9 April 2025, the latest date for which this figure is available for.

The ongoing staffing challenges in the Naval Service are well documented and to address these a wide ranging suite of recruitment and retention initiatives have been introduced. These include an increase the maximum recruitment age to 39 for those roles that had a recruitment age below that, and to 50 for Direct Entry Officer specialists; an increase in the mandatory retirement age to 62; a doubling of the Naval Service Patrol Duty allowance; the extension of the Naval Service Tax Credit for a further 5 years; the application of the Working Time Directive across the Defence Forces in January 2025, subject to certain exemptions, and the extension of the provision of private secondary healthcare to all members of the PDF. There has also been significant progress on pay.

Recruitment is presently ongoing via a wide range of pathways including general service recruitment, re-entry schemes, eight Naval Service specific direct entry competitions and three Naval Service cadetship competitions. As part of the Naval Service specific recruitment campaign, a Naval Service recruitment advertisement was launched in 2023 and has continued through 2024 and into 2025. The Defence Forces is currently in the early stages of tendering for an advertising campaign targeted at professionals who could fill Direct Entry roles in the Naval Service. The Defence Forces have also partnered with recruitment specialists, CPL, as part of the Naval Service Recruitment Process Outsourcing to develop and support the recruitment function in the Naval Service and to develop a content and marketing plan with a target of doubling Naval Service recruitment in the next 12 months.

To support the measures I have outlined here, Budget 2025 has provided a record allocation of €1.35 billion for the Defence Sector which includes an allocation providing 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.