By Sean O’Riordan, Defence Correspondent

Figures released by the Defence Forces show that international interest in joining the Army, Naval Service, and Air Corps is extremely high, although the drop-out rate between application and completion of training is worryingly high.

Two recruitment campaigns were run last year by the Defence Forces which attracted 8,164 applications.

Of those, there were people of 41 different nationalities who expressed interest in an officer cadetship training course and 68 different nationalities who expressed an interest in recruit (enlisted) training.

The Defence Forces was unable at this time to provide a full breakdown on the nationalities.

However, the Irish Examiner understands that while the vast majority were Irish there was a large number of expressions of interest from Britain, Eastern European countries, and Africa.

In recent years, an increasing number of Eastern Europeans have joined the Defence Forces. Most of them were young when their families emigrated here.

While the number of expressions of interest was high, there was a significant drop-off after initial contact.

Of the 8,164 applications, 1,900 completed and passed the online psychometric (intelligence) test.

Having done this, applicants were then eligible for the fitness test/medical and interview, of which 759 passed.

In total, 615 individuals commenced recruit training and 142 (23%) of these left prior to completion.

As part of a recent recruitment drive for the Naval Service, 65 applicants were invited to the navy’s headquarters at Haulbowline Island, Co Cork, to complete fitness tests/medicals and interviews. Just six turned up.

Concerns were recently raised in a leaked report that the quality of some recruits who had joined the army left a lot to be desired.

The classified report was prepared for senior military officers to provide them with a snapshot on training.

It stated that a number of the recruits in one recruitment class had learning difficulties which were so pronounced it inhibited them from completing the training course.

The report concluded that, in general, there was “a very poor standard of recruit” and highlighted the very short notice given to suitably qualified training staff to oversee the recruit class.

Even with accelerated recruitment, the Defence Forces is not keeping pace with the exodus of highly trained personnel who are leaving to get better pay and conditions in the private sector.

Defence Forces members are the lowest paid public service workers and several have left to join the Garda and prison service.

Former soldiers are organising a march on the Dáil on September 19 in the hope of embarrassing the Government into improving pay and conditions for serving personnel.

PDForra, the representative association for enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces, said it was concerned about the drop-off in the numbers from the point of application to finalising training.

“It’s all very well stating the number of people who applied, but the bottom line is the number of people who completed training. We expect that by the end of the year the Defence Forces numbers will have suffered a net loss, despite the heavy recruitment,” said PDForra general secretary, Gerard Guinan.