Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 January 2025
134. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the current serving force in the Irish Defence Forces by rank; the total number serving; the number serving by rank in January 2024;in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2127/25]
View answerI am advised by the military authorities of the following breakdown by rank of the members serving in the Permanent Defence Force at the end of 2023 and end of 2024 is as follows: -
|
- |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Lieutenant General |
1 |
1 |
|
Major General |
2 |
2 |
|
Brigadier General (Commodore NS) |
8 |
9 |
|
Colonel (Captain NS) |
41 |
51 |
|
Lieutenant Colonel (Commander NS) |
136 |
142 |
|
Commandant (Lt Commander NS) |
341 |
347 |
|
Captain (Lieutenant NS) |
343 |
350 |
|
Lieutenant (Ensign NS) |
354 |
327 |
|
Sergeant Major (Warrant Officer NS) |
44 |
41 |
|
Brigade Quartermaster (Senior Chief Petty Officer NS) |
45 |
42 |
|
Company Sergeant (Chief Petty Officer NS) |
228 |
212 |
|
Company Quartermaster (Senior Petty Officer NS) |
180 |
168 |
|
Sergeant (Petty Officer NS) |
882 |
887 |
|
Corporal (leading Seaman NS) |
1,337 |
1,294 |
|
Private (Seamen NS) |
3,505 |
3,558 |
|
Cadet (Classified as enlisted personnel in training) |
103 |
126 |
|
Total |
7,550 |
7,557 |
I have acknowledged in the past the recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces. To address these, I have introduced a number of measures. 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 extended to all PDF members. The Patrol Duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea has been doubled after ten days at sea in a calendar year 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.
Some positive trends have recently become apparent. There were 708 inductions in 2024, the highest since 2017 while the number of discharges stood at 674, the lowest in four years. This represents a significant improvement and is suggestive of a plateauing of the downward trend in numbers.
Interest in a career in the Defence Forces continues to rise as evidenced by the total of 13,348 applications received in 2024. This exceeds the total of each of the 5 preceding years.
Budget 2025 provided a record allocation of €1.35 billion for the Defence Sector, an increase of €100 million. This allocation provides for, inter alia, 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.
