Micheál Martin admits 'extreme' challenge to get Defence Forces numbers to 11,500
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Tánaiste and Defence Minister Micheál Martin has admitted it will be "extremely challenging" to meet a target to increase the Defence Forces to 11,500 members.
Under the terms of the newly published ‘Detailed Implementation Plan for Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces', the Government intends to increase the permanent forces across the army, naval service and air corps to 11,500 by 2028.
The report says that is 2,000 more than the 2022 "establishment" of 9,500. However, currently, the total strength across the three wings is just 7,671.
The plan is also to bolster Reserve Defence Force personnel. However, while the official figures suggest there are just over 1,400 reservists in the army and naval service, just 819 of them took paid training last year and sources suggest at best they may be able to muster not much more than 1,000 personnel.
The minimum numbers of reserves should be 4,269. Under the new plan, the minimum will be 4,469. To date, there are no reserves in the air corps, but the plan seeks to create 200 of them and increase the navy reserve.
Mr Martin said the implementation plan contains 130 directions and deals with everything from command and control to leadership, which will bring about radical change in how the Defence Forces will be led into the future.
"The target of 11,500 is extremely challenging given where we are, but we've implemented quite a number of measures already," he said.
"This is a very detailed implementation plan with timelines that everybody has agreed to, and that has been overseen by the high level steering group and involved in the implementation of the Commission on Defence Forces and also in terms of the of the independent oversight group led by Julie Sinnamon."
The strategy was signed off on by Cabinet after being brought by Mr Martin on Tuesday morning.
There have been some positive moves to enhance reserve numbers and a number of measures recently introduced by Mr Martin may also help retention and recruitment of permanent members of the military, especially in the naval service, which is suffering significantly from crew shortages.
These measures include doubling of patrol duty allowances for the naval service and free healthcare for all enlisted members of the military.
The plan also includes new command and control structures and upgrading of capabilities across operations to ensure the military is equipped to deal with potentially increasing threats presented by the political upheaval in some foreign countries. It also includes the purchase of advanced radar systems.
Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Seán Clancy described the plan as “a very important step on the journey of transformative change of our Defence Forces".
“Delivery of the actions set out will bring challenges but significant progress has been made to date.”
Raco, the association which represents 1,100 officers in the military, also welcomed the plan, but cautioned the key to the regeneration of the Defence Forces would be its speedy implementation.
“This is where the Defence Forces need whole-of-Government support. Most importantly, consultation and engagement with employee representatives will ensure buy-in and is critical for the success of this process, which simply cannot afford to fail,” Raco general secretary Lieutenant Colonel Conor King said.