Wednesday, 18 Feb 2026

Defence Forces

Ceisteanna (23, 24, 25, 26)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Ceist:

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 fhreagra

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Ceist:

24. 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 fhreagra

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Ceist:

25. 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 fhreagra

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Ceist:

26. 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 fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Defence (Deputy Helen McEntee)

I 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.

Question No. 24 answered with Question No. 23.

Question No. 25 answered with Question No. 23.

Question No. 26 answered with Question No. 23.

Defence Forces

Ceisteanna (27)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Ceist:

27. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence if she will outline those duties and services formerly completed internally by Defence Forces personnel that have now been outsourced or privatised, in each of the years since 2018, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13224/26]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Defence

The Defence Forces have been requested to provide information on the duties and services formerly completed internally by Defence Forces personnel which have now been outsourced or privatised in each of the years since 2018.

As this request requires the collation, extrapolation, and evaluation of a significant amount of legacy information within a short period of time, it will not be possible to reply within the timelines specified.

I will respond in full to the Deputy as soon as this analysis has been completed.

The following deferred reply was recieved under Standing Orders.

I refer to your Parliamentary Question Number 27 of 18th February, in which you asked about the ‘duties and services formerly completed internally by Defence Forces personnel which have now been outsourced or privatised, in each of the years since 2018’.

I have now received the requested information from the Defence Forces.

In addressing this issue, it is important to distinguish between instances where a function has been outsourced on a long-term basis and instances where external resources have been engaged to undertake a function on a short-term basis due to staffing or skills shortages.

In most of the instances listed below, the duties and services have not been outsourced on a long-term basis, rather the Defence Forces have engaged external service providers to enhance capacity or to perform the duty or service due to temporary personnel or skills shortages. The intention would be to revert to the duty or service being performed in-house when feasible.

Army

Long-term

• · A number of Communications & Information Systems functions have been outsourced, with technical support being provided in various areas.

• · Some of the maintenance and upkeep of certain Defence Force Installations has been contracted out to private companies.

• · Short-term

• · The current Transport Vehicle Body Repair and Recovery contract provides for the engagement of external service providers to deliver vehicle crash repairs and painting services.

• · Specialised ordnance instructors have been brought in to temporarily support the delivery of instruction to students of the Ordnance School.

• · A private company has been contracted to undertake PDF and RDF occupational and induction Part 2 medicals.

• · Agency services have been utilised to address a current shortage of medical personnel to undertake specialist roles e.g. nurses, lab technicians etc.

• · Army Training – certain courses e.g. Mortar Platoon Commanders, 2I/C and NCO have been undertaken externally.

Naval Service

Long-term

• · The maintenance of certain ships’ main engines and propulsion systems has been enhanced and outsourced, through an Optimised Maintenance contract.

• Short-term

• Air Corps

Long-term

• · Second line maintenance for certain aircraft types has been outsourced, including instances where additional maintenance support is required.

• · Civilian technician support has been used to provide technical support to the Air Corps.

Short-term

• · Due to a shortage of air traffic control personnel, ATC operational capability has reduced since June 2025. Contractual agreement set up with an external service provider (ASG Ltd) to provide Flight Information Service Officer (FISO) services at the Aerodrome.

• · Flight Operations – some Ministerial Air Transport Service Charter flights and PC9M Flight Line Support (Ramp Operations) have been delivered by external service providers.

• · Flight Training – certain ab initio pilot training has been undertaken externally.

A broad range of progressive measures has been successfully implemented in recent years to support the objective of recruitment and retention of personnel in the Defence Forces.

In 2024, Defence Forces strength levels stabilised and recorded a modest increase in 2025. This indicates that the key enabling measures are taking effect and delivering positive outcomes.

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.

Underpinning these and other measures, is a record allocation of €1.49 billion for the Defence Sector in Budget 2026, and while recruitment and retention issues remain challenging, this record Defence allocation illustrates my ongoing commitment to increasing recruitment and improving retention throughout the Defence Forces.

Defence Forces

Ceisteanna (28)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Ceist:

28. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence to provide information (details supplied) on medical assessments for each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13393/26]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Defence (Deputy Helen McEntee)

The information sought by the Deputy has been requested from military authorities, who have indicated that it has not been possible to collate the data within the time frame available. I will revert to the Deputy when the information has been provided.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Orders.

I refer to the above-referenced Parliamentary Question and the information requested is set out below:

The total number of medical assessments (i.e. Occupational Medicals) completed broken down by year and medical assessment location

The total number of medical assessments completed for the requested period (2023–2025), broken down by year and medical assessment location, is included at Annex A below. These figures are inclusive of both the PDF and RDF.

The number of formal medical appeals submitted by applicants in each of those years, broken down by the medical assessment location; The outcomes of those medical appeals, specifying the number that were successful (upheld), unsuccessful, or withdrawn categorised by medical assessment facility

I am informed that the Defence Forces has received the number of formal medical appeals by personnel set out in the tables below over the relevant period. Members of the Defence Forces are assessed under a number of different medical criteria, for which they receive a graded medical classification. Their overall classification may impact on the duties that a member may perform. Members who are classified as Grade X are deemed to be below Defence Forces medical standards and may be considered as unsuitable for service. These appeals have been included separately below.

			Appeals to Medical Classification
Year	No. of Appeals	Appeal Location	Appeals Upheld
2023	30	1 Bde – 21 2 Bde – 9	0
2024	22	1 Bde – 18 2 Bde – 3 NS – 1	4
2025	13	1 Bde – 9 2 Bde – 2 DFTC – 1 NS – 1	4
2026	5	2 Bde – 3 DFTC – 1 NS – 1	0

			Appeals to ‘X’ Grade Classification
Year	No. of Appeals	Appeal Location	Appeals Upheld
2023	27	1 Bde – 12 2 Bde – 12 DFTC – 3	0
2024	21	1 Bde – 5 2 Bde – 12 DFTC – 2 NS – 2	0
2025	16	1 Bde – 3 2 Bde – 7 DFTC – 3 Air Corps – 1 NS – 2	1
2026	1	2 Bde – 1	N/A

I am further advised by the military authorities that information is not readily available for the precise origin of individual medical appeals. While the Formation/Service to which a patient belongs is readily identifiable from the medical IT System, collation of precise location data would require the examination of individual paper medical records for the patients in question, which is considered unfeasible given the time required and the prioritisation of current staffing resources.

An assessment of whether the Defence Forces maintain internal statistical summaries or monitoring reports relating to medical assessment volumes and appeal outcomes

I am informed that the Defence Forces Medical Branch maintains an appropriate database in relation to ‘Appeals to Medical Classification’ and ‘Appeals to X-Grades’, and is satisfied that the systems in place are effective and appropriate.