138. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Defence the current shortfall in staffing levels across the Defence Forces; the timeframe to reach the targeting staffing levels; and the way in which the staffing shortfall impacts on national security. [43661/26]

Increasing and bolstering staffing levels across the Defence Forces is a key priority for me as Minister for Defence.

A range of measures have been undertaken to tackle recruitment and retention challenges over the last number of years. As a result, we have seen a stabilisation and expansion in the strength of the Permanent Defence Force since 2024. Last year saw the achievement of a total of 790 inductions- the highest in 20 years- while the latest available strength figure to hand of 7,741 indicates a year-on-year increase of more than 200 personnel as at the 30 April.

Overall interest levels in a career in the Defence Forces have grown substantially over the past number of years, culminating in a total of 16,510 applications in 2025. This trend has continued into 2026 with over 8,400 applications received to the end of April. The challenge now is for the Defence Forces to convert these applications to inductions, The military authorities are targeting the induction of 850 personnel for 2026.

A draft Strategic Workforce Plan prepared by the Defence Forces has recently been submitted to me for consideration. The draft plan, recommendations, and modelling tool with timelines will be considered over the coming weeks. As the Deputy will be aware, the aim of this process is to provide a pathway to the achievement of a strength of 11,500, inclusive of civilian personnel, commensurate with Level of Ambition 2. Strategic Workforce Planning is effectively a continuous pro-active process that aligns the needs of each of the three services with the future talent required.

The increases in applications numbers and in the overall strength achieved in recent years speak to the collective impact of a range of key enabling measures delivered by Government to support and drive recruitment and retention. These include; increases in the maximum ages of recruitment and retirement, 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, and extension of the Naval Service tax credit to 2029. In addition, there continues to be significant progress on pay with all personnel benefiting from a further increase awarded this month.

Opportunities for careers in the Defence Forces remain open via a diverse range of ongoing competitions including those for general service and for Direct Entry specialist roles, the latest of which to launch include competitions for Dental and Medical Officers, Instrumentalists and Aircraft Maintenance Technicians while two new tagged entry competitions for those interested in careers as Chefs and Cyber specialists launched earlier this year. The 2026 Cadetship competition closed in March with over 2,800 applications received- a thousand more than last years competition - for 80 positions.

Underpinning these and other 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.

Significant strides continue to be made on a number of fronts and the allocation of record levels of expenditure is illustrative of my and the Government's commitment to bolster recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces and, by extension, the security of the state.