Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, we are just over €2 million. The value for money review was published in November 2012. Among the recommendations outlined in it was the retention of an Army reserve and Naval Service reserve with a combined strength of approximately 4,000 personnel. A major reorganisation of the reserve was initiated, overseen by a joint civilian and military high-level implementation group. A revised strength ceiling for the reserve of 4,069 personnel - 3,869 for the Army reserve and 200 for the Naval Service reserve - is now in place. Implementation of the value for money recommendations is ongoing. Issues arising from the implementation process are being address by a high-level civil and military oversight group. These issues include recruitment, training, regulatory changes, requirements to underpin usage of the reserve in a voluntary, unpaid capacity for tasks aiding the civil authority, and the agreement of proposals for submissions on the future of the first line reserve. The value for money review recommended that the implementation of a revised organisational approach and the effectiveness of the reserve be formally reviewed. It was initially recommended that the review take place within a four-year timeframe. However the then Minister, Deputy Shatter, revised this to three years. While the review is not formally scheduled at this time, it is likely to take place in early 2016.

As regards recruitment, a Reserve Defence Force competition was launched in March this year. This represents the first intake of recruits following the reorganisation. There were a total of 1,857 eligible applicants of whom 147 were inducted up to mid-November. The attainment of the required training levels was a key recommendation of the value for money review. Reserve personnel undertake both paid and unpaid training. The review recommended that a paid training allocation in the order of 41,500 man days was required to provide paid training for a full-strength reserve of 4,069 personnel.

In case there is any doubt, we are absolutely committed to a strong, well-trained and properly financed reserve force. My understanding is that there are currently 2,375 active reservists. We need to get the strength up to 4,069, so we will be actively recruiting. One of the concerns expressed to the committee was that resources were not being put into training or that savings were being made by taking money from training. That is not the case. The reason savings have been made here is that we do not have the full 4,069 but a little over half that. We intend to address that issue.

A total of 20,324 paid training man days were used to the end of October. The recommendation I read out was for a total of 41,000 man days for 4,069 personnel. If we have 20,000 man days up until the end of October, which is nearly half of the recommended rate, and we have just over half of the numbers, and that was done by October and does not include the last few months of the year, then we are not a million miles away from where the recommendation says we should be.

I am personally and politically committed to building a strong, well-trained and properly resourced reserve. There is a really strong role for it and I want to reassure whoever is listening or taking note that we are recruiting with some purpose. We need to get the right people and make sure they are properly trained, which is exactly what we will do.

The savings were made primarily because we do not have the full complement of numbers and therefore could not spend as much as we would otherwise have spent.