Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the recruitment target for the Defence Forces; and the number who were inducted and the number who left the Defence Forces in each year from 2020 to 2024. [42033/24]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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This question is to adjudicate the performance of the Government in respect of the Defence Forces. Sometimes the Tánaiste says there is unfair criticism. It would be important to set out for the Dáil, in each year of this Government from 2020, the target recruitment for the Defence Forces and, in each year, how many were actually inducted and how many left, in other words, the net recruitment figure for each of those years.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The military authorities have advised me that as of 31 August 2024, the latest date for which such information is available, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,426. A table containing the requested induction and discharges figures for each year from 2020 to 2024 will be provided to the Deputy.

I have acknowledged in the past the recruitment and retention challenges in our Defence Forces. To address these I have introduced a number of measures. These include an increase in recruitment age to 39 years for those roles that had a recruitment age below that, and to 50 years for direct entry specialists. The mandatory retirement age has been increased to 62. Private secondary healthcare has been rolled out to all PDF members. The patrol duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea has been doubled after ten days at sea in a calendar year and the Naval Service tax credit has been extended for a further five years. There has also been significant progress on pay in recent years. Recruits on completion of training now start at €40,297 in year 1, while school-leaver cadets upon commissioning earn €44,216, while in full-time education.

I also instructed the military authorities to increase their recruitment targets beyond those originally projected for 2024, and some positive trends are now beginning to emerge. The latest strength figures represent a net month-on-month increase of 105 personnel. As of 30 September 2024, 494 personnel had been inducted and the latest advice from the military authorities indicates that they plan to have a further 250 further inductions in 2024. There had been 443 discharges as of 31 August, 35 fewer than at the same time last year. Interest in a career in the Defence Forces continues to rise, as evidenced by the total of 10,387 applications received across all competitions as of 30 September. This is more than the total number received for all of 2023.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It is hard to ask a supplementary question when I do not have the substantive response to the question I asked. I take the Tánaiste's commitment to provide the precise figures. Here is what we do know from the Tánaiste's response. There are currently fewer than 7,500 members of our Defence Forces, 2,000 below the establishment figure and a whopping 4,000 below the two-figure level cited as necessary by the Commission on the Defence Forces. I welcome the increase in the mandatory retirement age but that is not the problem when it comes to retention. The problem is that members who are not anywhere close to retirement age in some instances, and who are necessary within our Defence Forces, are choosing to leave. There have been 443 of those this year. Some 10,000 people applied or expressed an interest in joining the Defence Forces this year but only 434 were actually inducted.

Does the Tánaiste not see that is a really big problem and that the Government has failed, under any metric, to get a handle on the recruitment and retention crisis over the past five years?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have been less than two years in this portfolio but recruitment is stabilising and turning a corner, with a narrowing of the gap, and this year may see the first time there will not be a net reduction. The figure is currently 7,426. We have looked at all the recruitment methodologies. We were not satisfied with them or the manner in which people were being recruited, and we have changed that. We have introduced a lot of reforms on the recruitment side. We want to convert more people who show an interest in joining into inductions, and a lot of work is being done in that regard. We are also increasing capacity in training and improving the situation relating to instruction.

The Deputy should not underestimate the retention issue. He is saying it is not an issue at all but it was an issue, and everybody cited it as such, including the Deputy for the past two years. Likewise, all the representative organisations cited the need to extend the retirement age to 62, which is what I managed to get done. The need for that change had been around for years but could not get done. I got it done very substantially and that will help retention figures. There is a further issue, relating to broader pension entitlements, which is not specific to the Defence Forces but applies to the entire public service.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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To be clear, I am not dismissing the retention issue whatsoever. I am saying we have a big retention issue, on which the Tánaiste has failed to get a handle. I have also said I welcome the increase in the mandatory retirement age but have said that will not, in itself, deal with the retention issue we face. The truth is that as of today, more people have left the Defence Forces this year than have joined. That is a fact the Tánaiste has confirmed to this House, and it was also a fact last year and in the previous year.

The Tánaiste might have been the Minister for Defence for only two years but he was Taoiseach, the Head of Government, before that, so he cannot absolve himself of responsibility for the crisis. He has announced the recruitment of 400 net additional members of the Defence Forces in 2023, but he missed that target. He set the same target for 2024 and missed that target too. By his own admission, there is no prospect of there being 400 additional members of the Defence Forces by the end of this year. Nothing the Tánaiste has said here gives me any confidence he will hit the same target he has set for a third year next year. We need a bit of honesty that the current approach is not working as effectively as it should and that a change of course is needed.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy said fewer people have been recruited this year than have left. That is not correct, in my understanding. So far, up to 30 September, 494 personnel had been inducted, and the latest advice from the military indicates it will have a further 250 by the end of the year.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Will that make the 400 target?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There have been 443 discharges, which is fewer than last year. This year could be a turning point in the recruitment story. We hope that in respect of the retention issue, successfully raising the retirement age to 62 will have a significant effect next year and in the following year. Moreover, there are other measures we want to introduce, relating to instructors and so forth, that will have a beneficial impact. We have forced this pace, changed the modalities of recruitment and introduced significant incentives, as I outlined, such as private secondary healthcare, the patrol duty allowance and the extension of the naval tax credit.