Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 February 2026
23. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence the total number of current Defence Forces personnel in terms of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service and the Reserve Defence Force, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13220/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra24. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence the total number of people recruited to the Defence Forces since 2020 who have since left the Defence Forces, broken down by each year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13221/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra25. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence the number of people who have joined the Defence Forces since 2020, broken down by each year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13222/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra26. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence the number of people who have left the Defence Forces since 2020, broken down by each year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13223/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 23 to 26, inclusive, together.
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 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 a modest increase in 2025. This demonstrates that the key enabling measures which the Government has introduced to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment are yielding results.
As of the 31 December 2025, the latest date such figures are available for, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,756 personnel, while the figure for the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) stood at 204 first line reserve and 1,612 second line reserve.
The table below outlines as requested by the Deputy the number of people who since 2020 have joined and left the PDF, and those who have been recruited since 2020 and subsequently left.
|
Year |
Inductions |
Discharges |
Numbers of those who have discharged after joining from 1 January 2020 |
|
2020 |
538 |
641 |
130 |
|
2021 |
576 |
686 |
194 |
|
2022 |
435 |
891 |
201 |
|
2023 |
415 |
755 |
158 |
|
2024 |
708 |
674 |
204 |
|
2025 |
790 |
583 |
256 |
Within the 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.
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. The challenge now for the Defence Forces is to convert those applications into inductions. 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. I want to build on the progress achieved in 2025 and have set a target of 850 inductions for 2026.
The 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 earlier this month 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, such as Medical Officers, Dental Officers, Operations Branch Officers, Electrical Engineering Officers, Marine Engineering Officers, Electrical Artificer Hull Artificers, Radio/Radar Technicians, Chefs, Engine Room Artificers, Motor Fitters, Instrumentalists and Conductors, while the 2026 Cadetship competition recently opened for applications.
The Joint Induction Training Centre in Gormanston Barracks has been established and will facilitate the induction of up to 900 recruits per annum, when fully operational. An allowance for Officer Instructors was introduced last summer targeted at increasing training capacity and upskilling these Officers.
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.
In relation to the RDF, the priority of Government is the modernisation of our Defence Forces, and revitalising our voluntary Reserve Defence Forces is a key part of that transformation process. In that context, the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) Regeneration Plan published in July 2024, contains 27 actions across four objectives, namely: Recruit & Retain; Resource; Train & Educate and Integrate & Deploy that are being implemented.
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 increase recruitment into the Defence Forces.
