Sinéad Gibney
Ceist:
43. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the up-to-date figures relating to Defence Forces personnel who have left the Defence Forces broken down by service, rank and reserve or non-reserve status, by month from the period 2021 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31108/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra
The military authorities have advised it has not been possible to provide the required information within the timeframe available. I shall provide the information to the Deputy once it has been collated.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Orders.
I refer to the above-referenced Parliamentary Question and my original reply stating that it was not possible to provide the required information within the timeframe available; I am now in a position to do so. The military authorities have provided the requested information in the tables attached in which figures marked PDF indicate Permanent Defence Force numbers and those marked RDF indicate Reserve Defence Force. However, they are unable to give a breakdown by month for the officer discharges in the Reserve Defence Force which means that each month’s total is reflective of enlisted personnel only.
The military authorities have advised me that as of 30 April 2025, the latest date for which such information is available, the effective strength of the Reserve Defence Force (Second Line) stood at 1,618 personnel with an additional 173 Front Line Reserve personnel.
The strength of the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) is a key focus of the Defence Forces Office of Reserve Affairs (ORA), which published the RDF Regeneration and Development Plan, in July 2024. 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 have prioritised RDF recruitment, and there have been positive gains in this respect with 268 members being inducted in 2024, an increase in excess of 300% over the 65 members inducted in 2023.
The military authorities have further advised that as of 30 April 2025, the latest date for which such information is available, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,512. Last year’s figures and those provided to date in 2025 indicate a stabilisation in the strength. There were 708 personnel inducted in 2024, the highest in over five years while discharges were at the lowest in four years.
Within the Permanent Defence Force (PDF), the term 'discharges' encompasses personnel who leave for a variety of reasons including on age grounds, at end of contract, on a voluntary basis and also includes the number of trainees who exit prior to completion of initial training. A significant percentage of those who leave the PDF do so with some form of pension.
Turnover levels in the PDF are carefully monitored and the Commission on the Defence Forces stated in their report that they were satisfied that, in broad terms, levels of average turnover are not out of line with other military organisations internationally.
Government has introduced a number of key enabling measures to drive Defence Forces recruitment and support retention including, but not limited to, an increase in recruitment age to 39 years for those roles that had a recruitment age below that, an increase in the mandatory retirement age to 62, 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 and significant progress on pay.
To support these measures, Budget 2025 has provided a record allocation of €1.35 billion for the Defence Sector and includes a provision for the recruitment of a net additional 400 personnel per annum.
Interest in a career in the Defence Forces grew robustly in 2024 with a total applications showing an increase of 33% across all competitions compared to the previous year. This trend has continued into 2025.
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.
