As the Minister is well aware, the Commission on the Defence Forces produced a very important strategy in 2022, and the subsequent implementation plan outlined a series of measures that needed to be taken to strengthen our Defence Forces. One of the key issues was the whole area of recruitment and retention of personnel. I welcome the progress that has been made, but I am sure the Minister will be the first to admit it is slower than any of us want. Are there any particular measures the Minister can introduce in 2026 to improve both recruitment and retention?

I thank the Deputy. Increasing recruitment and retention of personnel in the Defence Forces is a priority for me as Minister and for everybody here who has spoken this evening. As 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 already been undertaken to tackle recruitment and retention challenges in recent years. As a result, we have seen that stabilisation I mentioned and that modest increase last year of 200. I want to continue on that trajectory. I want to see the 7,756 personnel increase further, and I have set a target of 850 inductions for 2026. Obviously, that will mean making sure we also have the accommodation to be able to support those numbers.

It is very positive to see that interest in a career in the Defence Forces continues to grow, with a total of 16,510 applications received last year, which is quite a significant number. The challenge now for the Defence Forces is to convert those applications into inductions. The Defence Forces are currently formulating a strategic workforce plan to set out current personnel and skill sets, and to map out proposals to achieve that strength of 11,500 and to include a detailed civilian workforce plan, which is essential if we are going to reach those numbers proposed in the Commission on Defence Forces report by April 2026.

One of the key actions I specified in the recently published strategic framework was the need for the Defence Forces to submit a civilisation strategy for my approval not later than July this year. This will identify the different roles and approach to significantly increasing the scale and numbers of civilians working within our Defence Forces to support our Defence Forces personnel carrying out military tasks. It is very important, when we talk about increasing our numbers, that we focus on the fact we have quite a low percentage of female members in our Defence Forces. There will be specific targeted campaigns to not just highlight this is a career and opportunity for women but also to show that when it comes to many of the challenging issues that have arisen in the recent past and are still ongoing, whether it is cultural issues or sexual assault that has taken place, we are responding decisively and are acting on this. There is cultural change taking place and being driven by a body chaired by Patricia King and many others. I am committed to working with them in making sure people know when they come into the Defence Forces that these issues are being addressed, are being taken seriously and that every person knows they have a place and will be respected when they come to work every day.

I thank the Minister for her reply. Again, it is important we recognise there has been stabilisation in the whole defence numbers, with a welcome increase also.

Recent programmes for Government gave a welcome commitment to build on improvements in the recruitment process and, as the Minister rightly referred to, better representation of women at all levels of the Defence Forces. Are there any particular additional measures being proposed this year to implement those commitments?

Some years ago, there was a ludicrous position where people had to leave after 20 years and there was the age limit. Are there any considerations being given to changing the age limit with regard to retirement? When we had a very heavy Army presence in the Cavan-Monaghan area with two barracks, many relatively young people, unfortunately, had to leave the Army because they reached a certain age.

There are several things happening that we need to see continue to encourage more and enhance greater uptake when it comes to those who wish to join the Defence Forces. I have said the numbers wishing to join are pretty substantial, but it is about then translating them. My focus this year is making sure we have the accommodation we need for training and that we have enough personnel for those in our Defence Forces carrying out the training. There were changes made recently to provide allowances in that regard. It is important that those changes were made, but where more needs to be done, that is my focus this year in supporting the Defence Forces.

I acknowledge there is an ambition there within the Defence Forces to reach these targets and to go beyond that, because we all want to be ambitious in this regard. As I said, for female participation, there will be targeted campaigns and a particular focus on how we can encourage more women into the Defence Forces, but also how we can make sure they are reflective of the entire community we now live in and the new communities who have come to Ireland. We need to see in our Defence Forces what we see in our own communities. Several actions have already been taken in terms of the increase in recruitment and with the retirement age. The anecdotal evidence is we are starting to see that having an impact and helping when it comes to recruitment and retention, but anything that has changed recently will take time to see the overall impact of those retirement age changes.

The Deputy has given me an opportunity to again acknowledge Fr. Paul Murphy and his four colleagues who came to his aid so bravely and unarmed when responding to what was a vicious and violent attack. Last week, I had the honour, with the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces,of presenting them with the distinguished service medals. This is something that is not given out to everybody. This recognised their bravery, but more broadly, the way in which members of our Defence Forces go about their work and put themselves at risk and in danger in the protection of our State and in the protection of those they serve, which is each and every one of us. It is important to have these ceremonies to recognise when Defence Force members carry out these acts of bravery but also to recognise those who support them. As the Deputy said, it was a very positive day not just for those members but also for their family members and for the whole barracks, because this was something that was celebrated more widely.