Mr. Eugene Gargan:

Within the Reserve Defence Force, there is a pool of resources that are second to none spread out among our membership. I am not just talking about the representative association but among the Army Reserve and the Naval Service Reserve there is an enormous amount of talent, goodwill and availability. From a human resources point of view, there is that availability of resource to the State through a proper channel through Óglaigh na hÉireann. That is immensely valuable. The fact that we have in this State so many young men and women who are prepared to serve their country as a proper expression of the patriotism, in furtherance of their careers or for the sheer joy of service itself is remarkable. Any state that turns down such an offer like that is remiss and is missing out on a golden opportunity.

Our view is that our service has to stand on its own two feet militarily. We do not do this just for the sense of espirit de corps, the fun we get out of it or the job satisfaction, which is all part of it. We recognise we are a military force. We are all subject to military law when we are on a military base, barracks or ship or in uniform. We are also subject to security clearances before we join. We are vetted on our way in. We are also subject to random drug testing, for example. We have to achieve fitness standards and hit medical standards as well. There are quite a lot of conditions that we have to meet before we can even serve. While we are serving, we are subject to two sets of law - civil law and military law on top of that. There are very few other things that we can do as ordinary citizens where we are tasked to potentially be armed and to take life, ultimately. Thankfully, that has not happened. However, that is what we train for. That is ultimately what our utility is all about. Senior commanders can utilise the Reserve if they require us. That is why it matters.

The best military doctrine on this at this point in time, given the context of what is happening around the world, particularly in Europe, is that there is going to be a heavy reliance on reserves in order to flex the size of the military defensive capacity of a nation. We believe that we are far too small. Usually one would expect a reserve force to be many times the size of the permanent force. It is on its head in Ireland; it is the other way around. Our establishment is only a fraction of that of the PDF. As a representative association, we recognise that we need to walk before we can run. After decades of neglect and being run down to the size we are at this stage, there is a significant task in turning the organisation around organically. For example, recruitment over the past number of years has been the focus of a lot of attention, both politically and operationally. We cannot turn that around quickly. There is a capacity. We only have so many instructors. There are only so many resources available to train. We can only start to grow slowly. There is a challenge. Anything that gets in the way of that and cannot be justified, for example the reduction and elimination of pay for a lot of these undertakings and a lot of the work we do, is most unwelcome. That is why we are bringing it to the committee's attention. It was a long-winded answer.