Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 April 2026
294. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Defence the steps being taken to ensure that the Defence Forces are adequately staffed and resourced to meet current and emerging security challenges; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29257/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra295. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Defence the current status of recruitment and retention initiatives within the Defence Forces; the measures being considered to address ongoing personnel shortages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29258/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 294 and 295 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 the strength of the Permanent Defence Force in 2024 and an increase of almost 200 personnel in 2025.
Recruitment to the Defence Forces remains open and ongoing via a wide range of pathways including general service recruitment, re-entry schemes and multiple direct entry competitions for specialist roles. A range of new recruitment competition streams have successfully launched over the past number of years and include new competitions for Air Traffic Controller Cadetships, Aircraft Maintenance Technicians, Grooms in the Equitation School and Dental Nurses. Additional new competitions for Chefs, CIS/Cyber roles and Medical Officers have all launched in recent weeks while the 2026 Cadetship competitions closed in March with over 2,800 applications received.
Indeed, overall application numbers for careers in the Defence Forces continue to grow, with a total of 16,510 applications received in 2025 and more than 7,000 received to end of March of this year. Increases in application numbers and in the overall strength of the PDF demonstrate that the key enabling measures which the Government has introduced to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment and retention are yielding results. These measures include: -
• Increases in the maximum ages of recruitment and retirement respectively.
• 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 the Patrol Duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea which has been doubled after ten days at sea in a calendar year.
• Extension of the Naval Service tax credit for a further five years.
• Extension of the Service Commitment Scheme for pilots in the Air Corps to Air Traffic Control personnel.
• Engagement of external expertise to support recruitment in the Naval Service.
• Introduction of a Professional Instructor Payment for Officers.
To support this and the implementation of related measures, Budget 2026 has provided a record allocation of €1.49 billion for the Defence Sector, an increase of €145 million on 2025. These funds include, among other things, a provision for the recruitment of a net 400 additional PDF members per annum.
Significant strides continue to be made on a number of recruitment and retention fronts and the allocation of record levels of expenditure is illustrative of my commitment the Defence sector.
