Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Matt Carthy TD, has said that the crisis in the Irish Defence Forces is worsening each year under the current government.

Deputy Carthy was speaking after it emerged that the strength of the Irish army has dropped below 6,000 and that more members continue to leave the Defence Forces than join each year.

Carthy accused the government of having misplaced priorities and of lacking the necessary ambition and vision required to revitalise the Defence Forces.

Teachta Carthy said:

“When this government came into office, there were 8,659 members of the Defence Forces. By the time Micheál Martin became Minister for Defence, that number had fallen to 7,966. The latest figures show that this number has dropped to 7,399.

“This is a monumental failure by any standard and it is a failure that is mounting every year that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in office.

“The crisis is within both recruitment and retention. One won’t be solved without the other. The Tánaiste has fundamentally failed to address the reasons why members are leaving the Defence Forces.

“The single most important retention initiative that government can take is in the implementation of the Working Time Directive to the Defence Forces. But there is no sense of urgency. In July 2022, the High-Level Action Plan called for a Heads of Bill to be published within six months – this has yet to occur.

“Level of Ambition 2 outlined by the Commission on the Defence Forces set out a required establishment figure of 11,500, meaning in fact our Defence Forces are now understaffed by over 2,000 personnel. The result is that the members of the Defence Forces cannot fulfil the roles they want and the capacity issues have meant that this government has withdrawn from an important UN Peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights.

“The government is clearly lacking the ambition and vision required to revitalise the Defence Forces.

“Their priorities are also misplaced. Rather than tackling the crisis in the Defence Forces, the government have instead prioritised the undermining of Irish neutrality through the removal of the Triple-lock neutrality protection.

“Members of the Defence Forces take on unique responsibilities and risks in service to the Irish people. They deserve recognition and appreciation of this service by government. They deserve a government that protects the legacy of Ireland’s proud tradition of serving in UN Peacekeeping missions. It is now clear that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are incapable of addressing this crisis.”