Defence Forces lost 1,600 more staff than it gained

SOME 1,600 more people have left the Defence Forces than have joined it over the past decade.

A massive 7,536 soldiers have left the armed forces since 2013, with just 5,937 joining up, Dáil questions by Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín found.

The pace of departures has accelerated recently, with more people leaving than joining for six years in a row. However, the gap between those leaving and those joining the armed forces accelerated sharply over the past two years.

In 2022, over twice as many soldiers left as joined, with 891 leaving and 435 joining.

In 2023, the pattern continued as a total of 750 people left the Defence Forces, with just 415 being recruited.

The figures emerged after Peadar Tóibín asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin for ‘the number of persons recruited to and discharged from the Defence Forces in each of the past 10 years and to date in 2023’.

Responding, Mr Martin said: ‘Ongoing staffing challenges in the Defence Forces have been acknowledged.

‘In that regard, my immediate focus is on stabilising the numbers of personnel in the Defence Forces and thereafter increasing strength to meet the level of ambition arising from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.’

However, even the modest ambition of stabilising the force is unlikely to be met with the Defence Forces telling the Government it expects to recruit just 540 people this year. That would not be enough to replace those leaving, much less enable the Defence Forces to return to its full establishment strength of 9,500. This leaves the Government goal of increasing the size of the military to 11,500 people by 2028 increasingly in doubt.

There are 7,550 people in all branches of the Defence Forces – about 2,000 short of its establishment strength.

One Army source said: ‘Increasingly, in a violent world, people are asking have we an Army capable of defending the State. Increasingly the answer, under the current regime, is no.’

‘Have we an Army capable of defending the State?’