Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Mulley, Mr. Richardson and Mr. Mulligan for the presentation. It was succinct and clear. It raises a number of issues; first and foremost is the area of recruitment. I have raised the issue of recruitment in the Reserve Defence Force on several occasions here and in the House with the Minister. I am convinced that the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, is strongly committed to the development of the Reserve.

Given the figures, the reality is that there continue to be significant difficulties in achieving the establishment figure. Mr. Richardson stated in his presentation that at the current rate of progress it will be 2030 before the establishment figure is reached. Let us consider that reality alongside what appears, on initial reading, in the White Paper to be a strong commitment to the Reserve. However, then we factor in the frequent use of the term "review". It seems to create a situation in which there is not, in so far as the Reserve is concerned, the sort of certainty that is needed to be able to move forward and conduct the type of effective recruitment campaign that is needed.

I have looked at the Reserve forces throughout Europe. In many countries there are more members in the Reserve than in the permanent defence forces. The reverse is the situation here. In light of the overall situation, and given that all of us are supportive of what this is about, we have to see that there is a major benefit to society at large in having a reserve force that can be called upon routinely and in times of crisis, as referred to in the White Paper. However there is also a significant benefit to those participants in the Reserve. Perhaps the deputation could tell us a little about that. My sense is that the training, discipline, collegiality and everything that comes from participation actually benefits the person as well as benefiting society. Moreover, there is an ultimate benefit for employers. I call on the deputation to outline more to us their ideas around the specialist Reserve that may be established and the extent to which that specialist Reserve could be used. I take the point made by the deputation that unless we have a broad meaning attributed to "crisis" then we will not see the level of utilisation that we should see of this specialist Reserve. If we have a broad use or broad interpretation of "crisis" then "crisis" ceases to have any meaning.