Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Ceist:339. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Defence to list, for each of the last 20 years, the size of each of the branches of the Defence Forces. [12450/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 17 February 2026
Ceisteanna (339)
Freagraí scríofa
It has not been possible to provide a response within the time frame available. I will respond to the Deputy when the information requested is to hand.
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 figures in the table below to concerning the strength of the Permanent Defence Force as broken down by service and year for the last twenty years. As you will note Deputy, since 2013 the strength figures provided by the Defence Forces represent Whole- Time equivalent strengths:
|
Year |
FTE Strength Figure |
Army |
Air Corps |
Naval Service |
|
2005 |
10,446 |
8,539 |
852 |
1,055 |
|
2006 |
10,477 |
8,536 |
865 |
1,076 |
|
2007 |
10,434 |
8,512 |
845 |
1,077 |
|
2008 |
10,409 |
8,507 |
832 |
1,070 |
|
2009 |
9,963 |
8,119 |
809 |
1,035 |
|
2010 |
9,550 |
7,752 |
766 |
1,032 |
|
2011 |
9,438 |
7,654 |
790 |
994 |
|
2012 |
9,359 |
7,517 |
787 |
1,055 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year |
WTE Strength figure |
Army |
Air Corps |
Naval Service |
|
2013 |
9,318 |
7,504 |
786 |
1,028 |
|
2014 |
9,279 |
7,456 |
766 |
1,057 |
|
2015 |
9,140 |
7,309 |
748 |
1,083 |
|
2016 |
9,126 |
7,332 |
704 |
1,090 |
|
2017 |
9,173 |
7,386 |
734 |
1,053 |
|
2018 |
8,957 |
7,243 |
725 |
989 |
|
2019 |
8,659 |
7,002 |
721 |
936 |
|
2020 |
8,568 |
6,920 |
746 |
902 |
|
2021 |
8,456 |
6,830 |
751 |
875 |
|
2022 |
7,966 |
6,460 |
708 |
798 |
|
2023 |
7,550 |
6,136 |
689 |
725 |
|
2024 |
7,557 |
6,099 |
739 |
719 |
|
2025 |
7,756 |
6,184 |
765 |
807 |
Increasing 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 thus been undertaken to tackle recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces over the last number of years. As a result, we have seen a stabilisation in strength in the Defence Forces in 2024 and an increase of almost 200 personnel in 2025. This demonstrates that the key enabling measures which the Government has introduced to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment are yielding results.
It is very positive to see that interest in a career in the Defence Forces continues to grow, with a total of 16,510 applications received in 2025. 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 is currently open for applications.
The Defence Forces are currently formulating a Strategic Workforce Plan to set out current personnel and skill sets and to map out proposals for the achievement of a strength of 11,500, inclusive of a civilian component. I want to build on the progress achieved in 2025 and have set a target of 850 inductions for 2026.
I ensured that Budget 2026 provided a record allocation of €1.49 billion for the Defence Sector, an increase of €145 million on 2025, to underpin these plans. 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 and the allocation of record levels of expenditure is illustrative of my commitment to the Defence sector.