Defence Forces recruitment advertising costs €2.3m as strength rises by just 200

Defence minister Helen McEntee said 790 recruits joined last year, but departures limited overall growth to nearly 200 personnel

€2.3m spent on Defence Forces recruitment advertising as force grows by just 200. File picture: Flickr

Some €2.3m has been spent on Defence Forces recruitment advertising in the past 12 months, but the strength of the permanent Defence Forces grew by a “modest” 200 personnel last year, new figures show.

Despite 790 new recruits being inducted last year, retirements and discharges meant the size of the permanent Defence Forces grew only slightly.

The figures were provided to Social Democrats defence spokesperson Sinéad Gibney following parliamentary questions to defence minister Helen McEntee.

Ms McEntee confirmed that €1.6m was spent on advertising, with almost €648,700 spent on design and another €10,620 on consultancy fees.

Despite the spending, Ms McEntee admitted that the Defence Forces' strength only increased “modestly” last year by “nearly 200” personnel.

As of June 30, there were 7,816 people in the Defence Forces.

“Last year saw a modest, though significant, growth in the overall strength of nearly 200, with a total of 790 inductions achieved,” Ms McEntee said.

She said the inductions were “the highest in 20 years”, while discharges were at their lowest level in five years.

A total of 583 personnel left the Defence Forces last year, while there have been 265 discharges so far this year.

In 2024, there were 708 inductions, up from 415 in 2023. Some 12,000 applications have been received to join the Defence Forces so far this year.

Questions over recruitment advertising

However, Ms Gibney questioned whether spending on advertising is resulting in adequate numbers of people joining the forces.

She noted that for each of the 790 inductees last year, approximately €2,900 was spent on advertising.

“We need to ensure that we're getting value for the money we're spending on Defence Forces recruitment,” Ms Gibney said.

“There needs to be proper consideration given to the tone of the advertising, what motivates people to join the Defence Forces, and whether that motivation is being captured by what's currently being done.

“If advertising isn't being effective in substantially increasing recruitment to the level we need, we won't solve that by just throwing money at the problem. We need a proper strategy."

The figures also show that the number of men joining the Defence Forces is significantly higher than the number of women.

Of the 7,816 personnel on June 30, 7,218 were men and 597 were women.

Of the 790 inductees in 2025, 720 (91%) were male and 70 were female.

So far this year, there have been 334 inductions, including 301 men and 33 women.