96. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Defence the number of personnel who have joined the three branches of the Defence Forces in 2026; the number who have been discharged, retired, or otherwise left service; her views on recruitment in 2025 and 2026; her plans to increase or incentivise recruitment in 2026 and 2027; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33213/26]

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.

I am advised that as of the 31 March 2026, the latest date such figures are available for, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,778 personnel or 80% of the establishment figure of 9,739.

Last year saw an increase of almost 200 in the overall strength. This increase was assisted by the induction of 790 personnel- the highest number in twenty years, and this trend has continued into 2026 with an induction of 164 personnel to end March, comprising of 112 Army, 13 Air Corps and 39 Naval Service personnel.

Total discharges in 2025 stood at 583 - the lowest number in seven years, with discharges to end March 2026 at 138 (comprised of 118 Army, 11 Air Corps and 9 Naval Service personnel).

I am determined to build on the progress achieved in 2025 and have set a target of 850 inductions for 2026.

It is very positive to see such high levels of interest in a career in the Defence Forces, with a total of 16,510 applications received last year and over 7,000 received to the end of March of this year. The challenge now is for the Defence Forces is to convert those applications into inductions. A workforce plan to set out the pathway to the achievement of a strength of 11,500, including civilian personnel, will be submitted to me shortly for consideration.

The continuing growth in applications demonstrates that the key enabling measures which the Government has introduced to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment are yielding results. These measures include, but are not limited to, increases in the maximum ages of recruitment and retirement respectively, the extension of private secondary healthcare to all personnel and the application of the provisions of the Working Time Directive across the Defence Forces subject to certain exemptions. The Patrol Duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea has been doubled after ten days at sea in a calendar year while the Naval Service tax credit has been extended up to 2029.

There continues to be significant progress on pay with all personnel benefiting from a pay award delivered in February of this year with a further increase due in June. Additional pay related measures have been agreed through the local bargaining mechanism of the current public sector pay agreement.

Recruitment to the Defence Forces continues apace. New competitions for Aircraft Maintenance Technicians, Medical Officers, Chefs and Cyber/CIS personnel have all launched recently. These complement the already diverse range of Direct Entry and General service recruitment competitions that are presently open and ongoing and reflect the concerted efforts being made by the Defence Forces in relation to recruitment.

Underpinning these recruitment efforts and the associated enabling 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 into the Permanent Defence Force to meet Level of Ambition 2.