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

Yes, it is about the re-enlistment of former enlisted members of the Permanent Defence Force and, this is because, in the context of Covid, we wanted to bring back skillsets. It was part of the recruitment and retention issues, basically, and it still is. We are re-enlisting people now. We have not achieved the numbers we would like but there is a steady stream of people seeking to come back into the Defence Forces, for various reasons. Some of the reasons are linked to job opportunities that no longer exist due to Covid and others because we have a very active recruitment campaign under way. It is one of many strategies to deal with the fact that we are 1,000 people below where we should be in terms of the number in our Defence Forces. One of the ways to address the issue, and arguably it is the most efficient way, is to bring people back in who have left but have the skillset and training so can slot back into the Defence Forces quickly. That has been a very successful scheme within the Air Corps, particularly in terms of getting pilots back. We are trying to ensure that for the Army and Naval Service. There has been legislation done for it so we do not have to do it again.