Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a stark assessment of the state of the Reserve Defence Forces. We have heard from some of Mr. Richardson's colleagues in the Permanent Defence Forces in the course of our work and we had an engagement with the chairman of the commission on the future of the Defence Forces. Like Mr. Richardson, we look forward to that report, which we would expect by the end of this year. I acknowledge what Mr. Richardson said about the implementation and we would see ourselves as having a role in that, which is why we eagerly await its publication.