John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Just to finish the point on that particular scheme, issues have been raised by members of the force and the representative bodies in terms of the three years' service required to be eligible for that scheme. Some 40% of the members of the navy are excluded. The Minister might respond as to what analysis has been carried out and give specific details. There is also a concern that there was a delay in paying the €10,000 allowance. In October or November last, a small number had not received the payment. It is not clear whether everyone who is eligible has received the full entitlement.

The Minister touched on the major failure to get the best from the fantastic people in the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, who have made their services available to the State. In 2019, some 1,673 people were in the Reserve Defence Force. In 2020, there were 1,588 and in 2021, the figure was down to 1,489. Some of the issues have been articulated by the representative body for the RDF and they have been identified by the commission. The Minister touched on it himself that those recommendations must be implemented immediately. One of the major issues was the length of time it takes to bring in a new recruit when a person applies to join the RDF. In some cases, it has taken more than two years. People's lives move on, and their interests shift. That is a major failure. Could the Minister elaborate on what it entails when he says immediate action needs to be taken?

A very important decision was taken last year on legislation to allow members of the RDF to participate more fully in Defence Force operations and potentially to be deployed overseas, but there is a whole piece of work concerning workers' rights that is needed as part of that. Employer organisations need to become stakeholders in the process. There is a need for stringent workers' rights to ensure that members of the retained service who may choose to go on overseas deployment are not punished by their employer and do not lose out as a result of that. As that is something that is needed, the Minister might give us an update on whether the issue has been examined and when the legislation is scheduled to appear. That is it for now.