Contract extensions to allow 500 members to remain in short-staffed Defence Forces

Defence Minister Simon Coveney at a ministerial review of 119th Infantry Battalion UNIFIL in Sarsfield Barracks, Limerick, earlier this year.

Contracts for Defence Forces personnel which were due to expire at the end of next year are to be extended, allowing around 500 privates and corporals to remain in service up to the age of 50.

The move, announced by Defence Minister Simon Coveney, will come as a relief to the Defence Forces which is already short 1,000 soldiers, sailors, and air crew.