Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Of course I will meet people from those bodies. I will meet representatives of the Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA, and the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, tomorrow at the Defence Forces headquarters in Kildare. I am happy to meet them and maybe visit some of the training facilities being used and so on.

The point of having a single approach, if we call it that, to training is to ensure that if we have to call on the reserves in the event of a natural disaster, for example, they can operate in a seamless way with the Permanent Defence Force. They should be training together and the training facilities should be shared so we can have the capacity to respond when necessary. We need to find systems that allow people who are essentially volunteers and working in a normal life setting - they include business people and those working in retail outlets - to be able to marry with their lifestyle a commitment to the Reserve Defence Force. If that means we need to schedule interviews, fitness tests, etc., in a way that suits such people, we will need to look at that. My understanding is that we are considering the matter.

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