292. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence the number of members of the Defence Forces who have retired or been discharged in each of the past five years. [58528/26]

293. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence the number of new personnel who have joined the Defence Forces in each of the past five years. [58529/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 292 and 293 together.

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, with a total of 790 inductions achieved- the highest in twenty years - while the number of personnel who discharged was at its lowest level in more than five years.

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 11,800 applications received to the end June 2026. I am determined to build on the increase in the strength achieved in 2025 and have set a target of 850 inductions for 2026. The challenge now for the Defence Forces is to convert the high level of applications to inductions. A draft Strategic Workforce Plan prepared by the Defence Forces has recently been submitted to me for consideration. 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.

The Military Authorities advise that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,816 personnel on the 30 June 2026, the latest date for which this figure is available.

The table below provides figures for the annual number of inductions and discharges from 2021 to 30 June 2026, as requested by the Deputy.

* as at 30 June 2026

Increases in application numbers and in the overall strength of the PDF, over the last three years, demonstrate that the key enabling measures which the Government has introduced to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment and retention are yielding results. These measures include: significant progress on pay; increases in the maximum ages of recruitment and retirement respectively; 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 exemption, and increases in patrol duty allowance.

In addition, a wide ranging programme of capital investment in Defence Forces infrastructure, aimed at facilitating and enabling greater levels of recruitment and retention, continues apace. I was pleased to see first hand the significant progress being made during my visit to the Joint Induction Training Centre in Gormanston Barracks, an impressive facility which will, eventually, provide for the training of up to 900 recruits per annum. I was also proud to officially open the USAC building in Galway in February last - a 69 bed state of the art accommodation facility which was completed at a cost of €12.3 million,- and, in April, to officially open the refurbished Block 4 accommodation building in the Naval Service Base, Haulbowline, which will accommodate an additional 74 personnel following an investment of €8.8million.

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, coupled with the initiatives I have outlined here, is illustrative of my commitment to building on the growth in recruitment and the stabilisation in retention achieved in recent years.