Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 February 2026
217. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence whether service-specific retention targets have been set for the Naval Service and Air Corps in light of previous staffing pressures; the projected staffing levels required to meet full operational capacity in each service; and whether current recruitment and retention trends are sufficient to meet those projected requirements over the next three years [13751/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraIncreasing 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.
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, comprising 6,184 Army, 765 Air Corps and 807 Naval Service personnel respectively. This represents a year-on-year increase in total strength of almost 200 personnel compared to 2024.
A more comprehensive overview of the last three years is outlined in the table below and while challenges remain in relation to the recruitment and retention of specialists in both the Air Corps and Naval Service, the upward trends in inductions and in overall strength of each service in combination with reducing attrition levels give cause for optimism and demonstrate that the key enabling measures which the Government has introduced to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment are yielding positive results.
|
- |
Establishment |
Strength 2023 |
Strength 2024 |
Strength 2025 |
|
Air Corps |
886 |
689 |
739 |
765 |
|
Naval Service |
1,094 |
725 |
719 |
807 |
|
Defence Forces Inductions |
|
415 |
708 |
790 |
|
Defence Forces Discharges |
|
755 |
674 |
583 |
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 the 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, 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.
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 and improve retention in the Defence Forces.
