Mr. Neil Richardson:

On behalf of the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association, I sincerely thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before it today. During this appearance it is our intention to discuss a number of key areas of concern for the Reserve at this time.

At present the Reserve is undergoing the implementation of the Reserve Defence Force regeneration and development plan, which was launched in July 2024 and incorporates 27 actions designed to revitalise the Reserve, improve recruitment and retention, enhance the resourcing and training of the Reserve and integrate the modern Reserve into the wider Defence Forces. Ultimately, the goal is to implement the stated the Government policy of creating "a Reserve Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy to support the [permanent Defence Forces], nationally and internationally" as per the Defence Policy Review 2024.

The 27 actions contained within the plan cover a range of initiatives that seek to turn the Reserve from what was in the past a strategic Reserve where quantity was the main focus into a refined and more regularly utilisable, meaningful force multiplier for the Irish Defence Forces. The positive impact of the RDF regeneration and development plan became visible almost immediately. Some 270 new recruits were inducted in 2024, representing a 300% increase on the previous year's figure. At the start of 2025 it looked as though the Reserve was finally on an upwards trend after more than a decade of serious decline. However, literally in the past number of weeks, a serious issue has arisen that threatens to reverse the recent positive developments. In 2023, new pay Reserve guidance documents were published and approved by military management with the Department of Defence's support that allowed in essence for all Reserve activities to be paid. This had the expected outcome of improving Reserve activity levels and training and operational outputs, since, on the simplest level, reservists would now receive some form of reimbursement for any military activities that they undertook. It meant that internal Reserve unit administration and staff work activities undertaken by individual reservists to maintain their operational readiness in support of the wider Defence Forces, such as annual fitness tests, annual firing ranges, etc., any recurrency training and crucially, all recruitment activities, could now be paid. Previously, these were undertaken in an unpaid capacity, which meant that all costs associated with attending these activities were actually borne by the individual reservist. The new pay arrangement provided a huge boost to retention and was a major step in supporting both implementation of the RDF regeneration and development plan and stated Government policy for the Reserve. However, at the start of this month following direction from Department of Defence officials, military management was required to issue a new guidance document on the subject of Reserve paid activities. In brief, a significant number of Reserve activities, including all of those previously mentioned, are now to revert to being unpaid. This has caused significant alarm among the members of RDFRA.

The Vote 36 Defence allocation for 2025 is €1.021 billion. Defence Forces' pay accounts for €569 million of Vote 36 but subhead A5, Reserve Defence Force pay, only accounts for €3.5 million. This means that Reserve pay equates to 0.34% of Vote 36. That is one third of 1%. It is important also to note that subhead A5, Reserve Defence Force pay, currently has a lower allocation than it did in 2013 and that was during a financial crisis. In that year, the allocation stood at €3.9 million but was then reduced to €2.15 million from 2014 to 2019, before reaching a low of €1.65 million in 2020. It then rose to €2 million in 2021 and 2022, €2.05 million in 2023, €2.35 million in 2024 and now €3.5 million in 2025.

However, even this year's allocation falls short of the 2013 figure and before inflation is taken into account the Reserve has experienced a net funding decrease over the past 12 years. Furthermore, on top of this already minuscule financial allocation for the Reserve, we are now additionally experiencing the curtailing of paid activities out of that tiny budget. This move, undertaken at the request of the Department, is somewhat paradoxical, as in 2023, due to increased activity levels following the implementation of early actions arising from the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, the Reserve utilised all of its initial budgetary allocation and was provided with a supplemental allocation of €189,000 toward the end of the year to cover the shortfall. In 2024, due to the 300% increase in recruit inductions already mentioned, the Reserve exceeded its initial annual location by €863,000, which was again supplemented by the Department of Defence. Why therefore, having seemingly supported Reserve growth in recent years via the provision of supplementary budget allocations when needed, would the Department then suddenly request that a whole raft of Reserve activities revert to being unpaid? To be clear, the Reserve was and is only being paid for military activities its members physically perform. There is no regular salary, retainer fee or gratuity involved. The Reserve is therefore an extremely cost-effective force.

From the association's perspective, this very much appears like a reactionary measure designed to prevent the Reserve from exceeding its initial annual budget again. The simple fact is that the initial annual Reserve budgetary allocations over the past 12 years were not designed to support a growing Reserve, rather, one that was experiencing a net strength decline year on year, or at the very least remaining static. To reiterate, this year's allocation is less than what it was 12 years ago and represents one third of 1% of the overall Vote 36 allocation.

Separately, just after the start of this year, responsibility for Reserve matters was placed under a new branch within the Department of Defence. We have met officials from this branch on three occasions this year, the last occasion being two months ago, both to discuss matters of Reserve importance and to seek to advance positive measures for the association's membership. For example, we have sought to implement the payment of security duty allowance for members of the Reserve who undertake such duties. Currently this is only payable to members of the Permanent Defence Force, meaning that when a permanent and reserve soldier undertake such a duty side-by-side, only the permanent soldier receives the allowance.

In the medical sphere, we have sought to increase the maximum amount a reservist can be reimbursed for completing an annual medical with their local GP. It is currently set at €56.73. Most GPs charge far more than this, meaning that reservists must currently pay the difference out of their own pockets to complete this mandatory medical each year. These two issues are seen as important retention measures. It is worth noting that the RDFRA has been pursuing these issues for years, eight years in the case of the GP medical issue. However, it was required to recommence representation on these issues in 2025 with the new Department of Defence branch, due to a lack of progress previously. We have also been seeking to obtain approval to represent reservists in the First Line Reserve, which is an element of the Reserve comprised exclusively of former members of the Permanent Defence Force and who have no representation at present. We have also been seeking to amend funeral regulations to permit deceased reservists to obtain military funeral rights in line with their permanent counterparts. Implementing these latter two requests has no cost implications whatsoever. However, for all of the engagement we have had with Department of Defence officials at these meetings this year, there have been no tangible outcomes. On many of the topics raised, the RDFRA has been informed again and again that the resolution of an issue is nearly there or almost across the line, only to be provided with the same comments at subsequent meetings. Therefore, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that these meetings are box-ticking exercises in empty consultation and that there is no real desire to address the issues affecting our association's members.

Conversely, it is worth highlighting that the one Reserve matter on which Department of Defence officials did seek to bring about a definitive result this year was Reserve pay, and that was at no point raised with or discussed with RDFRA in advance of actions taken. Matters relating to pay, allowances and gratuities payable to members of the Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve is quite literally the first topic on which RDFRA is permitted to make representation as per the relevant ministerially approved Defence Forces regulation, and the Department did not even inform us that changes to pay were coming.

Omissions such as this do not help dispel the fear amongst reservists that, at the back of it all, they are really thought of as second-class soldiers and sailors who do not need to be kept in the loop about matters that impact them directly.

Aside from these issues linked to the Department of Defence, the association has also had less than satisfactory engagement with the Defence Forces’ office of strategic HR. While this office is responsible for implementing a wide range of HR measures, part of these include the creation of targeted new appointments that benefit the Defence Forces in various ways. Examples of this include the creation of a staff for the new Defence Forces joint induction training centre in Gormanston, and indeed the creation of the office of Reserve affairs, which was responsible for producing the RDF regeneration and development plan.

However, despite repeated representations from RDFRA, the office of strategic HR – while having implemented a significant number of new Permanent Defence Force appointments across the force – has not brought about the creation of a single new Reserve appointment. The Defence Forces transformation management office has no Reserve appointments, nor does the office of strategic HR itself. The joint induction training centre has no Reserve element, and, ironically, the office of Reserve affairs also has no formal appointments for reservists on its staff. It is supposed to, but while permanent appointments in the office of Reserve affairs were created several years ago, the dedicated appointments for reservists there remain outstanding. It sounds ridiculous that the Reserve appointments in the office of Reserve affairs were never created, but it is sadly accurate. If the Defence Forces are serious about integrating the Reserve, why are reservists excluded from certain key offices or is the creation of such appointments delayed by an inordinate amount of time?

In conclusion, RDFRA wishes to make a statement which is perhaps obvious. It is simply not possible to grow, train, utilise and retain a modern military Reserve force while expecting its members to perform a significant portion of their service for free. In what universe is it fair to expect women and men to train to meet the standards expected of the modern Óglaigh na hÉireann reservist, and then serve meaningfully in that capacity, on top of maintaining their civilian career, all while being scolded by the Department of Defence for looking to be remunerated fairly for that service? To be crystal clear, that remuneration is sought primarily to cover the ancillary costs of actually being a reservist, because otherwise Reserve service comes at a net loss to the individual, and who in their right mind is willing to accept that? Therefore, the RDFRA is requesting that, to make the Reserve both more attractive to join and credible in its utility to the State, reservists should be paid for their service to the State in all of the forms that takes. There are a small number of sections in a single Defence Forces regulation that, if amended, would make this a reality.

I thank the committee and would now like to invite any questions that members might have.