236. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Defence her Department’s plans are to improve the quality and collection of statistics relating to Defence Forces recruitment and retention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54534/26]

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. A range of measures have been undertaken to tackle recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces over the last number of years. As a result, we have seen a stabilisation in the strength of the Permanent Defence Force in 2024 and an increase of almost 200 personnel in 2025.

The importance of effective and quality data in driving transformation in the Defence Forces is well recognised.  A Digital Transformation Officer, at Colonel level, was appointed by the Defence Forces in October 2024.  The planned Digital Transformation process, which is being led by the Digital Transformation Officer and their team, will ultimately deliver a comprehensive singular data repository of data in the Defence Forces, including recruitment and retention data, which will enable detailed and complex data access and analysis.

On recruitment and retention data specifically, a number of interim steps have been undertaken by the Defence Forces to increase available data.

As the deputy may be aware the Defence Forces have commenced the use of a new Applicant Tracking System, Rezoomo, which has a data analytics function and provides statistics through the various stages of the recruitment process

A dedicated report, built directly around Rezoomo data, has been developed specifically for Defence Forces recruitment activities. This report provides comprehensive visibility of key recruitment metrics including; time to hire, candidate success rates, and rejections reasons. By leveraging the data now available, the Defence Forces can monitor recruitment performance, identify emerging trends and isolate areas for process improvement.

The Deputy may also be aware that a draft Strategic Workforce Plan prepared by the Defence Forces has recently been submitted to me for consideration. The aim of the plan is to provide a pathway to the achievement of a strength of 11,500, inclusive of civilian personnel, commensurate with Level of Ambition 2. The Plan highlights that improving the quality and availability of metrics is key to decision making across the Defence Forces and makes a number of recommendations in that regard.

I am pleased that there continues to be very strong interest in a career in the Defence Forces with a total of 16,510 applications received in 2025 and over 10,000 applications received to end May 2026.

The Military Authorities advise that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,823 personnel on the 31 May, the latest date for which this figure is available. Last year saw a modest, though significant, growth in the overall strength with a total of 790 inductions achieved- the highest in twenty years and the number of personnel who discharged was at its lowest level in more than five years.