Mr. Eugene Gargan:

I will take that as the Deputy mentioned cyber security and I have a background in cyber security myself from a previous role I had. As there are so few who are expert in particular areas, the selection is all based on their civilian qualifications. Sometimes, there are issues about the equivalence in a particular role they go to in a military context.

There have been issues in the past in that regard, although I cannot recall them off the top of my head. We discussed with military management the recognition of qualifications and their equivalents on the green side of things. They are few in number but they are experts on the basis of their civilian qualifications. They are highly prized from the point of view of the Defence Forces. While I do not wish to speak for our sister representative associations, in the context of the retention and staffing issues in the PDF, in order to fill vacancies within the organisational structure of Óglaigh na hÉireann on the permanent side, there is a growing realisation and recognition that where there is expertise available through the Reserve, it will be sought and procured.

For example, there is a mechanism in place to seek expressions of interest. That is circulated through the Reserve and there is due process for selecting them. It is quite small, however. We are proud that we have a small number of experts on overseas missions. They tend to be either in CIS roles, which are IT-related, or roles that require them to use their linguistic expertise. It is things of that nature. It is generally where there is a challenge for the PDF to fill those appointments from within its staff.