Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 June 2026
158. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence the reasons no personnel completed pilot training in the Air Corps in 2023, despite 11 personnel being inducted that year; the attrition or dropout rate at each stage of pilot training for that cohort; whether the washout is linked to instructor capacity, aircraft availability, or other constraints under the Equipment Development Plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49276/26]
View answer159. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence the number of personnel who left the Air Corps in each of the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and to date in 2026, broken down by category (details supplied); the breakdown of reasons for departure where recorded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49278/26]
View answer160. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence the current strength versus establishment, in both numeric and percentage terms, for aircraft maintenance technicians and air traffic controllers specifically within the Air Corps, as distinct from the overall Air Corps establishment figure; the average time taken to fill a vacancy in each of these specialist categories; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49279/26]
View answer161. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence of the 800 applications received for the 2026 pilot and air traffic controller cadetship streams, the number that proceeded to interview; the number offered a place; the number who commenced training; the historical dropout or failure rate during the 30 month pilot cadetship training pipeline for each of the past five intakes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49280/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 158, 159, 160 and 161 together.
As Minister for Defence, I am fully committed to supporting and strengthening recruitment and retention in the Permanent Defence Force.
The military authorities advise that the projected training timelines for personnel to achieve their Military Pilots Wings is, on average, 36 months. This encompasses all aspects of training from induction to graduation, including 10 months military training in the Cadet School. All statutory training obligations must be met by the Air Corps and individual before they can be commissioned as pilots.
The training timeline for the 2020 cadet pilot class was significantly impacted by Covid, and the commissioning took place in 2024 and not 2023 as originally intended.
In 2023, there were 11 pilot cadets inducted and that cadet class will graduate later this year. The attrition rate of this cohort is 36.36%, where 4 out of the 11 may not have met the necessary standard to be commissioned as pilots or voluntarily decided to leave the pilot stream. However, all four have remained serving and have become ACAL (Air Corps Administration and Logistics) officers.
The Defence Forces have provided the requested discharge figures for the Air Corps by stream in the following table:
|
- |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|
LINE |
42 |
34 |
34 |
43 |
21 |
|
TECHNICIANS |
24 |
15 |
23 |
16 |
4 |
|
PILOTS |
9 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
There is no separate category for aircrew. The term 'discharges' encompasses personnel who have left the Defence Forces for a variety of reasons including on age grounds, at end of contract and voluntary discharges. The requested breakdown of discharges by reason for each stream is unavailable as this data is not routinely recorded by the Air Corps.
In relation to the historical dropout or failure rate for the last five pilot cadet intakes as requested by the Deputy, the Defence Forces have provided the following information which for the years 2018 to 2022 (36 months training completed):
|
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
|
INTAKE |
6 |
10 |
8 |
5 |
8 |
|
DROPOUT/FAILURE |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
TOTAL QUALIFIED |
4 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
Separately, the Defence Forces have advised that:
• The current strength of aircraft maintenance technicians stands at 165 or 51% of an establishment of 322 with a further 30 personnel currently in training;
• The strength of Air Traffic Controllers is 13 or 65% of establishment of 20 with a further 4 personnel in training;
• Training for aircraft maintenance technicians takes approximately 4 years;
• Training for air traffic controllers approximately 2 years;
• Vacancies in these posts are filled through a combination of promotions and external recruitment competitions.
• The Air Corps training capacity aligns with the current Equipment Development Plan.
The 2026 Pilot & ATC cadetship competitions closed for applications in March and the selection process is currently in train. The Defence Forces intend to interview 39 candidates for the pilot cadetship, and 10 candidates for the Air Traffic Controller cadetship, with a projected maximum intake of 16 pilot cadets and 4 ATC cadets, subject to business planning requirements.
Recruitment to the Air Corps remains ongoing via General Service Recruitment, a new competition for Direct Entry Aerospace Engineers and a competition for Aircraft Maintenance Technicians which attracted more than double the total number of applications received for last year’s competition.
Interest in a career in the Defence Forces and the Air Corps specifically continues to grow. Total applications for the Air Corps increased from 1,200 applications in 2021 to 3,259 applications in 2025, while a further 2,083 applications have been received to the end of May of this year. There has been a corresponding increase in the number of inductions to the Air Corps over the same time period from 40 in 2021 to 78 in 2025 with a further 26 recorded to the end of May of this year.
Increases in application numbers and in the overall strength of the PDF, over the last three years, demonstrate that the key enabling measures which the Government has introduced to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment and retention are yielding results.
