asked the Minister for Defence the arrangements which are being made for recruitment to the Army and Navy for 1988.

59.

asked the Minister for Defence when the next recruitment to the Army will take place.

Limerick West): I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 59 together.

Recruitment to the Permanent Defence Force is constantly kept under review having regard to current strengths and commitments. It is not possible at this stage to say when the next intake of recruits for general service will take place.

In view of the uncertainty and unrest in the country it is essential to have further recruitment to the Army and the Navy, and more especially to the Navy who are not fully equipped to guard our coastline.

(Limerick West): I have recently taken on 400 recruits for general service and some of those will go to the Naval Service. As the Deputy knows, since 1981 general recruitment has been suspended but there is a special intake of recruits to meet essential needs from time to time.

In view of what happened along our coastline with regard to the importation of arms and in view of the fact that no recruitment to the Navy was made this year, will the Minister examine the Naval Service to ensure that they are fully equipped to meet a similar challenge in the future?

(Limerick West): I will be glad to examine the situation but I am satisfied that the Naval Service is adequately equipped and staffed.

Are all the mine-sweepers in action and how many are there on the coast?

That seems to be a separate question.

With regard to the whole question of recruitment and the inability of the Government to say when and how many recruits will be taken into the Defence Forces, can the Minister advise the House if steps have been taken since previous questions were asked in the House to realistically advise the 8,000 plus persons who are on the waiting lists of their position and their prospects?

(Limerick West): I have taken on 400 recruits in recent times. I am satisfied that meets our needs at the moment.

I accept that but what I am getting at is the position of those thousands of people on the waiting lists who in effect do not have a realistic prospect in the near or not so near future of being taken into the force. Have they been appraised of the facts rather than left hanging around in vain hope? We have been promised this before.

(Limerick West): They were all advised of the position. People were interviewed and recruitment is under constant review. If further recruits are required they will be taken on.

Why is it that a large number of young men who had applied for enlistment in the Defence Forces and who had received notification to attend for interview were subsequently informed not to attend and that the interview had been cancelled?

(Limerick West): I do not have any information with regard to that but if the Deputy can give me instances where that has happened I will have them examined. All the people who signed on at the local barracks were called for interview and were interviewed. As a result 400 recruits were taken into general service.

I will be very pleased to give the Minister the information I have. I have been informed that a large number of men in the Moate area who had been notified to attend for interview were subsequently told not to bother——

It is not required that the Deputy give the information now.

Is the Minister aware that the widely held belief in the Moate area is that the reason they were not called was because the Minister for Education had arranged for others from Athlone to take up the vacancies?

(Limerick West): That is not the situation. I strongly refute that statement. If the Deputy gives me the necessary information I will have it examined.

In view of the long waiting list of young men and women anxious to join the Defence Forces, why was it necessary to advertise and set up an interview system involving all the cost of security clearance and so on that is involved in that process? Why did the Minister not simply take a number of people from the waiting list to fill the very small number of vacancies available?

(Limerick West): This is the first occasion on which an interview has taken place. In other years when recruitment was embarked upon no such interviews took place. It was my decision to interview all the applicants——

They were not all interviewed.

(Limerick West): The number called for interview were interviewed.

You had better check out the situation on the ground.

Deputy Molloy, please.

(Limerick West): All those who turned up for interview were interviewed. There is no waiting list as of now.

Question No. 3.

A final supplementary——

A Cheann Comhairle——

A Cheann Comhairle——

I will oblige the Deputy who tabled the question. Deputy Wyse, please.

How many were recruited to the Irish Navy in the past 12 months?

That is a separate question.

How many personnel were recruited to the Irish Navy over the past 12 months?

(Limerick West): If the Deputy puts down a question I will answer it.

Surely the Minister must have that answer in his brief.

Question No. 3.