Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his opening remarks and the information he has provided. In his opening statement, the Minister of State said, "The Government has acknowledged the excellent levels of voluntary service pertaining to Reserve Defence Forces membership and the vital role they can play in supporting the Permanent Defence Force". The RDF strength stands at 56% and targets for this year from 57% to 65% suggest we are not placing the value on the RDF that the Minister of State suggests we are. At those levels, we are operating far below the strength at which we should be operating. Why is this and how genuinely proactive are attempts to recruit members into the RDF? Is any advertising planned to target people to join the RDF and address the very serious deficit in the strength and numbers in the RDF?