Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

The Minister has agreed in the past that the integrated Army reserve is not working and it has not taken off as expected. The first line reserve is a valuable resource. For example, in 1999, more than 300 officers took redundancy and since then between 20 and 30 officers annually have left the Army prematurely. This vast resource is available to the Minister. If the integrated Army reserve does not work, this is the solution because these people can travel abroad and fit in easily with the Permanent Defence Force because they have the training. It would be difficult to find people in the Reserve Defence Force to do that because of their training and background.

When will action be taken? The report was accepted by the Government. When will action be taken? When will recruitment take place? Will the Minister provide an adequate incentive for former officers to become involved again?

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