Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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196. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the initiatives the Government is pursuing to address the challenges of recruitment and retention within the Defence Forces; and if, from his time at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, he has considered how education and defence can be linked to make the armed forces even more attractive to young people. [18002/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the military authorities that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,545 as at 9 April 2025, 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.

The recruitment and retention challenges in the PDF 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.

Training and education in the Defence Forces plays an important part in the life of a member and is conducted in line with national and international best practice, and kept under review.

The Defence Forces is committed to the promotion of lifelong learning and the accreditation of Defence Forces training and education where appropriate. As such, the organisation has a number of collaborative partners across the Further and Higher Education sector, including the South East Technological University, Maynooth University, Munster Technological University and SOLAS.

In addition to these partnerships, the Defence Forces operates a refund of fees scheme that facilitates personnel in accessing partial funding to pay for courses in which they are engaged in their own time.

Defence Forces personnel are also supported to access further and higher education programmes through Recognition of Prior Learning and Work Based Learning Portfolios. These mechanisms allow access to programmes through non-traditional methods.

It is to be noted that expenditure on educational courses for members of the Defence Forces amounted to some €4.7m in 2024, a significant proportion of which relates to international training and education. The estimated expenditure for 2025 is €5m. These figures, exclusive of significant additional administrative overheads associated with travel and logistics, comprise third level education courses across the entire range of academic qualifications, career courses, management training, and continuous professional development.

Qualifications and training received are a key additional benefit to a career in the Defence Forces and the significant level of expenditure allocated to education and training for its members is illustrative of the government’s ongoing commitment to making the Defence Forces a career of choice for our young women and men.

Noel McCarthy (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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197. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence to outline the current situation with respect to recruitment to both the Permanent and Reserve Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18016/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The military authorities, who are responsible for recruitment, have advised me that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF), as at 9 April 2025, the latest date for which this figure is available, stood at 7,545 personnel.

A total of 708 personnel were inducted into the Permanent Defence Force in 2024. This 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.

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

The Government has implemented a range of measures aimed at addressing the recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces. These include an increase in the maximum 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.

The Government remains committed to bolstering the numbers in the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) and is aware that the ability to increase its strength is fundamental to the regeneration of the Force. The strength of the RDF is a key focus of the Defence Forces Office of Reserve Affairs (ORA) which was established in line with a recommendation from the Commission on the Defence Forces (CoDF).

The implementation of the RDF Regeneration and Development Plan sets out 27 actions to revitalise the RDF and one of the 4 operational objectives of this plan is maintaining a robust and dynamic induction process with the aim of achieving an effective strength of 80% by 2028. To that end, the Defence Forces prioritised, and continue to prioritise, RDF recruitment and positive gains have been seen in this respect with 268 members being inducted in 2024, an increase in excess of 300% over the 65 members inducted in 2023.

One of my key goals as Minister for Defence, is the development of a Reserve Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy on a voluntary basis, with the Permanent Defence Force, both on-island and overseas.

The Deputy may also with to note that Budget 2025 provides 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 to the Permanent Defence Force of at least a net additional 400 personnel per annum.

There is no doubt that challenges still remain, but the allocation by Government of this unprecedented level of expenditure to the Defence sector coupled with the measures currently in train is illustrative of my intention to meet these challenges head on.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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198. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the action he is taking to improve retention levels in the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17828/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Since my appointment as Minister for Defence, in addition to a programme of cultural transformation, which is underway, my focus has been on stabilising the numbers of Defence Force personnel and facilitating the capacity for further increases.

Retention is not influenced by a single factor, but rather, there are multiple, interconnected factors, which are responsible for retaining people in any organisation and the Irish Defence Forces is not alone in encountering these challenges, which are being experienced by armed forces internationally.

It is important, at the outset, that recruitment and retention efforts are aligned. In that regard, Military Authorities have established a Joint Recruitment Office with the appointment of an Officer who will set up and lead a specific Retention Team.

A number of specific actions in the area of retention have already been delivered including but not limited to:-

• Significant progress on pay;
• An increase in the mandatory retirement age to 62;
• The extension of private healthcare to all ranks in the Defence Forces;
• Provision of fitness, training and sports facilities across its installations;
• Progress on the 2023-2027 Defence Forces Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP) with the highest level of financial resources in the State’s history;
• The removal of the blanket exemption for the Defence Forces, from the provisions of the Organisation of Working time Act.
• The provision of excellent training and education opportunities.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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199. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence when the professional instructor payment, committed to by the Government, will be paid to commissioned officer instructors in the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18070/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will have seen my recent announcement confirming the introduction of a payment to Officer Instructors in the Defence Forces.

Over the past number of months, my Department has engaged with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform with a view to recognising the upskilling of officer instructors through the introduction of a professional instructor payment (PIP). I acknowledge the support from the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and his officials in this regard.

The security of the State and its citizens is a key priority of Government. In that context Government are committed to strengthening our Defence Forces.

The Defence Forces relies heavily on the expertise and experience of instructors to deliver high-quality training programmes to new recruits. These programmes act as a key driver to transform culture and modernise the Defence Forces to ensure that the state has a professional Defence Forces capable of undertaking roles assigned by Government. In order to achieve the necessary scale of change, the Commission on the Defence Forces Report highlighted core areas to be addressed including a transformational change to modernise the organisation’s culture through “re-engaging in a different way with its core values, renewing its ‘contract’ with its people with modern work practices”. A higher level of education and specialism is therefore now required for officer rank instructors.

The advanced education and training includes the completion of a newly created instructor course which has been designed specifically to address matters such as culture change and the recruitment matters in the Defence Forces. Instructors who undertake this new structured, integrated training programme, which is currently at the final stages of design, will act as leading contributors to cultural change in the organisation, and will assist in creating a modern Defence Forces.

Professionalised instructors will play a critical role in ensuring that training is carried out in observance of the organisational culture aspired to at the induction stage of the recruit’s career and throughout the member’s career, fostering a positive organisational culture from the outset.

This is an important incentivising measure, which will complement various other measures that have been employed in recent years to tackle the critical matter of recruitment and retention for the Defence Forces. The positive measures taken to date have proven to be productive in the context of the number of expressions of interest received to join the Defence Forces.

This new measure will apply to nearly 100 officer rank instructors, who must possess advanced education, specialist expertise and substantial experience. It will be restricted to those officers serving as instructors in Defence Forces training roles, who have completed the required instructor courses under the new syllabus. The measure will cease to apply as officers move out of a relevant training/instructing appointment.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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200. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will support and simplify the application process for funding in respect of overseas veterans (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18064/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, I wish to assure the Deputy that I recognise the outstanding contribution made to the State by our ex-service personnel. In this regard, my Department provides support to two recognised Veterans Associations which represent all former personnel, namely the Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) and the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel (ONE). My officials and I meet regularly with these recognised Veterans Associations to discuss matters of concern to their members. My Department has also entered into Service Level Agreements with IUNVA and ONE, under which an annual grant is paid to both organisations in order to assist with their administrative overheads. IUNVA is paid €40,000 per year and ONE is paid €173,000. These grants were increased substantially in 2022 and have been increased again in 2025.

As a further means of assistance, since 2021 my Department has also secured total funding to date of €1,100,000 under the Dormant Accounts Fund to assist ONE and IUNVA with specific special projects.

The Deputy will appreciate that I am unable to comment on specific individual cases such as those that he has highlighted, but would mention that IUNVA and ONE deal with all Veterans regardless of service. In relation to applications for funding that may be submitted by individual posts around the country, these would be a matter for IUNVA Headquarters.

In addition to the supports highlighted to the recognised Veterans Associations, the Defence Forces Personal Support Service also provides limited support to retired members of the Defence Forces on a case-by-case basis, as well as assisting IUNVA and ONE in their work providing advice and support to veterans.

The Deputy may also be aware that the 2025 Programme for Government includes a commitment to establish a dedicated Office of Veterans Affairs, based within the Department of Defence and working across Government. This commitment is currently being progressed.