Strength of Defence Forces rises in 2025, but remains well short of targets

Tue, 10 Feb, 2026 - 20:00

Cormac O’Keeffe

The Defence Forces secured a net increase of more than 200 people in 2025, six times that of the previous year, official figures show.

It marks a continuing gradual turnaround in the fortunes of the Defence Forces since 2024, after successive years of a significant drain in numbers.

That haemorrhage in personnel reached a peak in 2022 when there was a net reduction of 456 people, followed by 340 personnel in 2023.

The net amount takes into account the number who completed recruitment (inductions) minus the number of personnel who left (discharges) in a given year.

Figures provided by the Defences Forces show:

790 people were inducted in 2025, with 583 discharges — a net rise of 207;
708 were inducted in 2024, with 674 discharges — up 34;
415 were inducted in 2023, with 755 discharges — a net decrease of 340;
435 were inducted in 2022, with 891 discharges — a net drop of 456.

The biggest net increase in 2025 was in the Naval Service, with 162 inductions and 47 discharges (+115), with 78 inductions into the Air Corps and 55 discharges (+23). The Army had 550 inductions and 480 discharges.

The total strength of the Defence Forces stood at 7,756 at the end of 2025, compared to circa 7,500 in the last two years, almost 8,000 in 2022 and 8,500 in 2020.

Naval Service strength is now 807, the Air Corps 765, and the Army 6,184.

The establishment strength of the Defence Forces is just over 9,700, meaning the services are still 2,000 short of what they should be and 3,800 below what the 2022 report of the Commission on the Defence Forces recommends by 2028.

“While the net increases are welcome they are still incremental and key concerns remain in the recruitment-retention cycle,” said deputy director of the Centre for Military History & Strategic Studies at Maynooth University, Rory Finegan.

The retention issue is particularly acute as it pertains to the maritime domain that is six times the size of our landmass for which Ireland has jurisdiction and that equality is a ‘critical node’ of Atlantic security.

He said the absence of a modern radar and sonar (for sub-sea surveillance) meant the Defence Forces is “effectively sea blind”.

He added: “Retention of skilled personnel is the very heart of the matter, and speaks to a critical reality of the gap between ambition and capability.”

Lieutenant Colonel Conor King of Raco, the representative body for officers, said while the increase in the last two years was welcome numbers will be significantly short of the targets.

“This is what failure looks like, and is because the pace of implementation of the Commission's recommendations has simply been too slow and leisurely for the past four years, even in the face of major global instability and an acknowledgement by the Commission that urgent action was needed.

"Multiple achievable targets have been missed, with little apparent accountability.”