Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 May 2026
124. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Defence the number of recruitment applications the Defence Forces received, approved and rejected in each respective year from 2021 to 2025 inclusive and to date in 2026, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32978/26]
View answerIncreasing recruitment and retention of personnel in the Defence Forces is a key priority for me as Minister for Defence. As a Government, we are committed to putting the resources in place to achieve Level of Ambition 2 and a crucial element of this is personnel expansion.
A range of measures have been undertaken to tackle recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces over the last number of years and these are now yielding positive results. As of the 31 March 2026, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,778 personnel which represents a year on year increase of more than 270 personnel.
The table below illustrates the progress made in the last 5 years in terms of applications, and inductions to the PDF.
|
|
Total Applications |
Total Inductions |
|
2021 |
9,561 |
576 |
|
2022 |
8,043 |
435 |
|
2023 |
9,479 |
415 |
|
2024 |
13,348 |
708 |
|
2025 |
16,510 |
790 |
|
2026 |
7,252* |
164* |
*As at 31 March 2026
I want to build on the progress achieved in 2025 and have set a target of 850 inductions for 2026.
As the figures mentioned earlier indicate, overall interest in a career in the Defence Forces has grown substantially over the past number of years, culminating in a total of 16,510 applications in 2025. This trend has continued into 2026 with over 7,000 applications received to the end of March. A workforce plan to set out the pathway to the achievement of a strength of 11,500, including civilian personnel, will be submitted to me shortly for consideration.
Key enabling measures undertaken to support and drive recruitment and retention include: increases in the maximum ages of recruitment and retirement; the extension of private secondary healthcare to all personnel; the application of the provisions of the Working Time Directive across the Defence Forces subject to certain exemptions; increases to Patrol Duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea, and extension of the Naval Service tax credit to 2029.
There continues to be significant progress on pay with all personnel benefiting from a pay award delivered In February with a further increase due in June.
Opportunities for careers in the Defence Forces remain open via a diverse range of ongoing competitions including those for general service and for Direct Entry specialist roles while the 2026 Cadetship competition closed in March with over 2,800 applications received.
Underpinning these and other measures, I ensured that Budget 2026 provided a record allocation of €1.49 billion for the Defence Sector, an increase of €145 million on 2025. These funds include provision for the recruitment of a net 400 additional PDF members per annum.
While recruitment and retention remains challenging, significant strides continue to be made on a number of fronts. The allocation of record levels of expenditure is illustrative of my commitment to increase recruitment into the Permanent Defence Force and retain our valuable members.
