Mr. Se?n Clancy:

Yes, because these are people of competence and experience. The single force concept that was deliberately introduced well over a decade or more ago at this stage still exists in the organisation and therefore the Reserve being integrated into the permanent force in the manner in which it has been is an important factor. Some of the barriers to overseas service, for instance, have been removed, but more have to be done. There are three particular regulations in this area that are complex and need to be addressed and that is part of the regeneration plan. It is not just a question of changing one thing and another thing. I want a holistic regeneration plan in place that identifies all the enablers for the Reserve. I am very conscious of the low level of recruitment we have had to date but as I mentioned we are reopening our Reserve, in particular for the Naval Service, in October and I hope to see an increased level.

On the number of 200 in the Naval Service Reserve that I think the Senator mentioned, it a recommendation of the Commission on the Defence Forces that that would increase, and it will increase. It was not in the high-level implementation plan, HLIP, itself, but we have to generate the numbers first and get to that. I do not see that as a barrier and am sure the Secretary General shares those thoughts.

On visible recruitment, the Senator mentioned this in the Permanent Defence Force and in the context of the Reserve as well. We have a very specific recruitment strategy when it comes to advertising and promotion and we follow that strategy. We have to get value for money. We have finite resources. The Senator may have seen the Be More campaign, which was a very specific new campaign that follows our strategy of recruitment. That covers both the Permanent Defence Force and the Reserve in time. A Naval Service-specific section of that recruitment strategy was rolled out in the last three months. We have seen an increase as a direct effect from that advertisement campaign. We are repeating that through acquired investment and more investment again on the Naval Service because that is an area of concentration over the next three months in order to build the application numbers to bring us through to 2024. As a result of that particular communications strategy we are planning an additional Naval Service recruit class in October. It would be indicative that is as a consequence of that Naval Service drive. I take the point about the local advertising, but as I said we have finite resources and we generally focus most of them on the national sphere.

We reach out to schools and to main events such as the National Ploughing Championships. I am sure some members were there and would have seen the large 40 ft recruitment truck we have and the personnel we deploy to man that and advertise. We get a wide demographic attending events such as the championships and other major events and also local events, such as festivals. If any members feel there is an event of reasonable size and reasonable effort it would be worth our while to attend, we would be more than happy to do so. We send people out to schools but it is on an opportune basis and generally through association with members who know a school. Having to visit every school in the country would demand considerable resources on top of what we are already trying to do in this space to communicate the possibilities of service in the Defence Forces.