Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to ask a supplementary question. I thank the Minister of State for his replies. I asked my question because I thought it looked unusual that there was a saving of €28 million on one side and a funding requirement of €28 million on the other side. I suppose it is my job to ask the questions.

I understand, having met representatives of the RDFRA yesterday, that the association made a business case to the Department regarding its subvention some months ago and is struggling to get a response. I appreciate that this might not have been brought to the attention of the Minister of State. I will ask the RDFRA to write directly to him. He might take the matter up with the Department to see whether something can be done to assist the association with the severe financial difficulties it is encountering as it seeks to keep the show on the road. The RDFRA is considerably less well resourced than RACO and PDFORRA. I accept that PDFORRA certainly represents more members and RACO probably does. At the same time, the RDFRA is performing an important role.

The Minister of State is right when he suggests that in addition to making criticisms, the members of this committee should also offer solutions. I would like to suggest a couple of things that would help the Reserve Defence Force with recruitment. We need to get back into more communities. When we took a lot of the outposts away, we removed the opportunity for many towns and villages to access the Reserve Defence Force. The facilities are simply too far away. There is a social benefit to joining the Reserve Defence Force. It is not merely a stepping stone to the Permanent Defence Force. It can be for some people, but for others it is an opportunity to give something back to their communities. I know that reservists in my own community gave their time voluntarily to play an important role in flood defence in the Athlone area last year. We need to reflect in this context on the whole concept of volunteerism, the experience it brings to the individual and what it gives back to the community. There is a social benefit.

We struggle to put a financial figure on that or its worth to our community but we should give it more consideration.

I do not know how we will solve the problems of recruitment and Garda clearance. I have tabled questions to the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality asking if there is a backlog. The Department tells me there is not. It will not give me a breakdown of the number of recruitments to the Defence Forces. I now hear from the Permanent Defence Force, PDF, that it too is struggling with Garda clearance. I ask the Minister of State to liaise with the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality and her Department to see if we can fast-track some of these individuals or at least set a reasonable timeframe so that when young people join the Reserve, they are told they absolutely will have an answer within a specified period. As it stands, people are waiting for a year or perhaps two and still do not know if they ever will get clearance or be able to join. This uncertainty leads to their saying, "To hell with it, I will not even bother." I ask for a little certainty about the timeframe. If it were a lengthy timeframe, at least applicants would know what it is and would be able to plan ahead. Units would also have a better idea of the numbers coming into the unit so they would be able to plan ahead for the coming year in terms of resources, training and having personnel on board to train people. That is one solution to the problem.

Regarding the difficulties we have in recruiting to the PDF and RDF, I maintain my support for a three-brigade structure. The fact that we have a two-brigade structure means there are soldiers covering a very large area of the country who can be posted to Finner, Donegal, one day and to Dublin another. This lack of work-life balance and this uncertainty make it a less attractive prospect perhaps initially for people to join, but certainly makes it less attractive to stay on and continue in longer levels of service. I believe that is why we see so many people leave the Defence Forces. Again, let it not be said that I have not attempted to offer at least some solutions to the many problems faced by the Defence Forces.