Mr. Eugene Gargan:

I will come in on that point and follow up on what my colleagues have said. I cannot come here today and not recognise that, in my own unit in particular, which is the 27th Infantry Battalion based in Dundalk, a significant number of the intake are recruits who come from the North, who have travelled across the Border to come down to train and become members of the unit. To me, that demonstrates an amazing commitment. It is not only just being available at the times of training and courses, but also ensuring they are qualified for it, meet all of the fitness and medical standards and are selected appropriately. There is a huge commitment by reservists that has to be recognised. They have to put up with everything. There are so many barriers to entry, it is quite phenomenal. In recent years, it would have changed an awful lot from when Senator Craughwell and I enlisted. Then, it was fairly straightforward but now security clearances alone can take an awful long time - they can take months and months. That is without being critical of those in the Garda vetting unit who look after all of that, but there is a big backlog there. By the time a recruit is ready to be attested and start training properly for his or her military role, he or she will have already demonstrated a resilience and tenacity that is second to none. If it was so difficult to join any other organisation, people would not do it. That has to be called out and recognised.