Mr. Martin Cooney:

Deputy McGrath asked, and astutely so, if this was a method of testing the commitment of a reservist. I believe it most definitely is. It would test the commitment of anyone who had 26 annual leave days per year if five of those days were being used up on administrative tasks. I am testing the impatience of my employer if I ask for his or her indulgence in this regard and testing the impatience of my other half in that because I have had to take part in a career course and engage in administrative tasks she would be complaining about my not having taken her and the children on a holiday. That is a huge test to anyone's commitment to an organisation.