Gerard P. Craughwell: Defence Forces 21% Shortfall, Procurement Gaps
Gerard P. Craughwell spoke in the House on 21 January 2026 about acute shortfalls in the Defence Forces and slow progress on recruitment, retention, pensions and procurement. He warned the service is 21% below allowable strength and criticised pay structures, the Single Pension Act and delays to operational capability.
Shortfall in personnel
The speaker set out official figures: an allowable strength of 9,739 across Army, Air Corps and Naval Service and an actual strength of 7,700 on 31 December 2025 - a deficit of 2,039 personnel or 21% below strength. He noted the net increase of 143 personnel from 31 December 2024 to 31 December 2025 and referenced the 2022 Commission on Defence Forces recommendation of a target strength of 11,500 by 2020.
Pay and retention pressures
Craughwell criticised recent pay policy that raised entry pay for newly commissioned officers and recruits, arguing it narrowed pay differentials that previously incentivised middle ranks to remain. He highlighted starting salaries - £25,493 for an officer cadet and roughly £31,000 for the first point for a commissioned officer - and said those rates make retention of corporals, sergeants, captains and commandants more difficult.
Pension concerns and frontline services
He argued the Single Pension Act 2013 has had a severe impact on frontline services, naming members of the Defence Forces, Guard of Sheaqana, Prison Service, Ambulance Service and Fire Service as affected. Craughwell said pension entitlement had been a driver of retention - for example after 21 years of service - and urged the minister to raise the issue with the Minister for Finance, calling for political intervention over deference to civil servants.
Procurement and operational capability
The speech scrutinised Vote 36 and recurring expenditure, noting that 73% of Vote 36 traditionally goes on pay and allowances while the remaining 27% must cover maintenance and operational capability. He questioned what portion of that 27% in 2026 is allocated to primary radar, drones, maritime sonar, arms, armoured and specialised vehicles and related equipment, warning that primary radar bought today would not be operational until 2028 and that there are insufficient trained personnel to use radar or interpret sonar.
Junior Minister role and neutrality debate
Craughwell raised public confusion over the statutory status of a Junior Minister with responsibility for defence, asking what formal role the Junior Minister holds. He also challenged distinctions made in public statements between "political" and "military" neutrality, saying under customary international law a state is either neutral, non-aligned or part of an alliance.
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Thank you very much. Minister, you're welcome to the House. I speak to you as a former member of the Defence Forces and as a nominee of the PD4, ORACO and Security Services in general. Minister, the current allowable strength of the Defence Forces is 9,739, all ranks across all services, Army, Air Corps and Naval Service. The actual strength of the forces on the 31st of December 2025 was 7,700. That's 2,039 personnel or 21% below strength. The net increase in strength from the 31st of December 24 to the 31st of December 25 was 143 personnel. These facts are alarming against the background of a world and European geopolitical and security turmoil. It's not anything either political Ireland or indeed the Department of Defence should be proud of. The 2022 Commission on Defence Forces recommended a target strength of Defence Forces of 11,500 by 2020. I believe in a recent briefing from the Department Minister, you were told the slow rate of increase, it would take five years to reach 9,739 and up to 10 years to reach 11,500, which is the targeted strength. This suggests it will be 2035 at the earliest when the target will be achieved. Both suggested dates are, I believe, fanciful in the extreme. In recent years, in order to drive recruitment, pay rates for initial entrance had been significantly increased for newly commissioned officers and private soldiers, recruits, on finishing their initial training. Retention of middle-ranking personnel, commissioned and non-commissioned, are the lifeblood of the organisation. These inflated pay rates for new entrants have substantially narrowed the gap between top pay for private soldiers and the maximum rates for corporals and sergeants in the mid-ranking personnel the forces are most eager to retain. Similarly, with commissioned officers front-loading the pay of second lieutenants and lieutenants significantly reduced the pay differential between the captains and commandants and their maximum rates. So middle-ranking captains and commandants, corporals and sergeants are the ones most eagerly needed to retain in service, are now disincentivised due to the sleight of hand of raising the most junior ranks pay to the disadvantage of ranks immediately above them. We should add that the starting salary for an officer cadet is £25,493. Bear in mind we're trying to attract people, some of whom would be married. £25,000 doesn't exactly do it. The first point of the scale for a commissioned officer is approximately £31,000. The introduction, as my colleagues have pointed out, of the Single Pension Act in 2013 proves that one size does not fit all. And without going into great detail on it, the Single Pension Act is now severely impacting all frontline services. As members of the Defence Forces, members of the Guard of Sheaqana, Prison Service, Ambulance Service, Fire Service are all leaving because there is no pension entitlement at the end of the day. Pension entitlement was one of the things that drove retention in the Defence Forces. You served your 21 years, you got well looked after it with a decent pension. That's gone. And we're losing people because of it. And I would ask you, Minister, to raise this with the Minister for Finance. The political Ireland has to take control and stop letting the civil servants tell us what to do. So on the 29th of January, the Government, upon the nomination of Taoiseach, formally appointed Ministers of State. This is a matter which is causing some concern in the wider public. We have a Minister for State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for European affairs and its state at the Department of Defence. Can you, Minister, advise what statutory status the Junior Minister has with respect to defence? Because anybody I speak to is unsure. The Minister, the Junior Minister makes lots of statements, lots of speeches, but what statutory role does the Junior Minister have? All Irish Ministers, senior and junior, make pronouncements verbal and written. And they state simultaneously that Ireland is politically neutral, but military, sorry, not politically neutral, but militarily neutral. In customary international law, where the rules and obligations of neutrality are codified, there is no such subdivision of neutrality. Either a state is neutral, or non-aligned, or is part of an alliance. So where in customary international law is such a subdivision of neutrality, as articulated by Ireland's senior and junior ministers, specifically codified or cited, it is confusing to hear people talking about politically neutrality and military neutrality. There is no such thing. You're either neutral or you're not. The government and government ministers repeatedly talk about the 1.7 billion in the defence budget. We know that vote 35 deals with pensions. I'm sorry, vote 36 deals with, sorry, vote 35 deals with pensions. Vote 36 is the normal pay and other running of the defence forces. So 73% of vote 36 is to be expended on pay and allowance traditionally. The cost of recurring expenditure on maintenance of lands, utilities, fuels, spare parts is borne by the remaining 27%, along with the cost of obtaining and maintaining operational capability. The core business is the defence forces. That's what it is. What portion of this paltry 27% of vote 36 is actually allocated in 2026 for the said operational capability, such as the purchase of primary radar, entry drone equipment, maritime sonar, arms and ammunition, armoured and specialised vehicles, and the allied and associated drivers. We're talking about buying primary radar. Primary radar, if we bought it today, will not be operational until 2028. And we have nobody that's able to use it. And if we do see something in our sky, what do we do? Send a strongly worded letter on headed paper up to the pilot, who's in our airspace and say, please leave us. This is outrageous. Similarly with the sonar, we do not have people who can use or interpret sonar. How long will it take to train them if and when we buy it? So I have concerns about that. Lots of talk in recent times about the multi-role vessel, the MRV and the naval service was to buy. Where is it? Where are we now? Is it still on the cards to buy it? I'm also deeply concerned about our procurement from one state and one state alone. And I will have something to say about that in the near future. It is most peculiar that all procurement and defence is coming from one source and one source only. Senator, your time is up. I'm going to have to ask you to wrap it up. Okay. There is so much I would like to say, Minister, but I don't have 15 minutes like my colleagues. Thank you.
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