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For Oral Answer on : 02/07/2024
Question Number(s): 81 Question Reference(s): 28229/24
Department: Defence
Asked by: David Stanton T.D.
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QUESTION
* To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence to outline the current situation with respect to recruitment in the permanent and Reserve Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
REPLY
As of 31 May 2024, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,447 personnel, and 210 personnel had been inducted.
Challenges in the recruitment and retention of personnel have been acknowledged and measures have been taken to address these. The military authorities initially projected an induction figure of 540 for 2024 but I did not believe that to be sufficiently ambitious. On that basis, I instructed that this number be substantially increased, both for enlisted personnel and Cadets. This will be facilitated by the allocation of €1.23 billion for the Defence Sector in Budget 2024, which includes a provision for the recruitment and training of a net additional 400 personnel.
As part of other strategies to increase recruitment, a Joint Induction Training Centre has been established in Gormanston, and the military authorities have advised that when fully operational, it will enable induction training to be provided to 900 recruits per annum.
The General Service recruitment and the re-entry schemes are continuing. The 2024 cadetship competitions closed recently and applications are currently being processed. Recruitment of Direct Entry specialists is ongoing. Two new competitions were launched this year, namely an Air Corps Air Traffic Controller cadetship, and a Direct Entry competition for Air Corps Aeronautical Engineer.
As a measure to remove potential obstacles to recruitment, the maximum recruitment age was recently increased to 39 years for those roles that had a recruitment age below that and applies to General Service Recruits, Cadets and certain specialists. The maximum age of recruitment for Direct Entry Officer specialists was increased to 50 years.
My Department engaged an external company in 2023 to validate and assess the Defence Forces current recruitment methods, focusing initially on the Naval Service, and the resulting recommendations are being progressed, including the outsourcing of the recruitment function in the Naval Service.
Naval Service specific initiatives include a bespoke recruitment campaign and advertising that launched in 2023 and continues in 2024. Additionally, a marine recruitment specialist company has been contracted to target individuals with the specialist skills required by the Naval Service.
Financial and non-financial retention initiatives have also been introduced including the extension of the provision of private secondary healthcare to all members of the PDF. There has been significant progress on pay and a doubling of the amount of the Patrol Duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea, after the first ten days in a calendar year. Additionally, the maximum retirement age for PDF personnel was increased recently to 60 years of age.
It should be noted that interest in a career in the Defence Forces remains strong with 9,479 applications received in 2023 and 6,045 received in 2024 as at 31 May.
In respect of the Reserve Defence Force (RDF), the military authorities have advised that, as of 31 May 2024, the effective strength of the Army Reserve was 1,404 personnel, for the Naval Service Reserve was 91 personnel and for the First Line Reserve stood at 176 personnel. Reserve Defence Force recruitment efforts also continue and the recruitment campaign, which opened last October, is ongoing. This has resulted in 149 applicants being attested to date in 2024, which compares favourably to the 66 inductions that took place in 2023. A further 771 applications are currently being processed.
