Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State stated "the service of all members of the Reserve is very much appreciated". That is not really the case because if he appreciated the service of all members of the Reserve Defence Force he would have adequately consulted with them and given them a chance to have a real input into the so-called value for money report and he would have provided them with a chance to examine the submissions that they made in 2010 and compare them to the findings of the report. The so-called value for money report took 33 months to complete. The representatives of Reserve Defence Force members were given a 90 minute presentation literally hours before the report was published. That is no way to treat people who serve on the ground in communities.

The number of cadres in the Permanent Defence Force has been reduced dramatically and members are being reallocated to various other posts as we speak. I urge the Minister of State to examine the practical reallocation of personnel in terms of where they reside, the previous location of their base of operations and where they are asked to go. Issues in those regards must be examined.

I am a Deputy for Donegal North-East. The Inishowen Peninsula, which has a population of 40,000, has lost its base which is being centralised. I will focus on one geographic location. I could give more examples but this is the area I know best. If one limits their training capacity then young people from the north Inishowen Peninsula will not be able to participate in training opportunities during the week. That is where one gets the statistics on the number of Reserve personnel that are unable to participate.

I urge the Minister of State to re-engage with the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association and to listen to its feedback and concerns. As we speak, the Reserve Defence Force is engaged in consultation across the State in its brigades and that will feed in centrally and will come to the attention of the Minister. I have no doubt it will bring many issues to the attention of the Minister which he has not considered. A grave mistake has been made in haste after such a long process in an attempt to publish the report and go for the headline figure of halving the budget. The mistake that has been made is that disrespect has been shown to those who serve us and the organisation representing them and we must see whether we can change some of the decisions and address the concerns of members of the Reserve Defence Force. I appeal to the Minister of State to address the issue.

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