Recruitment levels in the armed services are at a 10-year high, partly due to the economic downturn, Defence Force figures show.
As more people turned to the army, navy and air force for work, recruitment levels in the regular forces were running at 108% of recruiting targets at the end of June 2009.
The number of people leaving the Defence Force is also at a record low in a decade.
There were almost 10,000 personnel in the forces at the end of February 2010 - about 400 more than at the end of 2008.
The Defence Force says it's happy with recruits' skill levels and is offering training in many specialist areas, such as air warfare and engineering.
It adjusted pay levels to civilian levels last year, which it says might also contribute to the high recruitment numbers.
