asked the Minister for Defence the number of officers who resigned from the Defence Forces in 1987.

(Limerick West): The number of officers who resigned or voluntarily retired from the Permanent Defence Force during 1987 was 35.

Has the Minister got the figure for the preceding year, 1986?

(Limerick West): As far as I am aware it was 25.

If that is the case it would suggest, as Deputy Molloy and others said earlier, that there is a problem of morale in the Army if a lot of officers want to resign. If the numbers resigning are increasing at that rate we obviously have a problem.

(Limerick West): The number in 1986 was 27 and the corresponding figure for 1985 was 23. Over the years the figures have ranged from 25 up to 35 this year. In addition, since 1969 the number of officers has increased by 50 per cent, so talk about resignations must be put in perspective.

Does the Minister not acknowledge that it is disquieting, to say the least, that such a number of officers would want to resign from the Army, particularly when opportunities in the business world are not great? I assume the Minister views this with some concern.

(Limerick West): I do not, because over the past 20 years the average has not changed.

Can the Minister tell us the rank of the officers who resigned in 1987?

(Limerick West): There was one colonel, four lieutenant colonels, 14 commandants, 11 captains and five lieutenants.

Will the Minister agree that it is a new trend that because senior officers now no longer see a career structure for them in the Army we have this alarming increase in the numbers resigning from the Force, which is proof positive, if proof were required, of the low morale, low career prospects, etc? Will the Minister agree that this has alarming consequences for the State? Surely the Minister will agree that it is absolutely essential that to preserve our free democracy we must maintain an adequate armed Force and a satisfactory police force?

The Deputy is making a speech rather than asking pertinent questions.

If the armed Force is allowed to deteriorate it could, in the long run, be a threat to the State.

(Limerick West): I cannot agree with that at all because, as I already pointed out, one must take the average number of resignations over the past 20 years into account and the increase in the number of officers since 1969.

Is there any other year when 35 resigned? There is not.