Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Reserve has been in decline for some time. While it had 2,280 effective members at the end of 2015, this decreased to 2,049 at the end of 2016 and to 1,975 at the end of March 2017, and figures given to me last month show that the current total strength of the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, is now 1,856. There is therefore a downward trajectory all the time. Recruitment is the lifeblood of the Reserve, and without a steady flow of new recruits the organisation is doomed to erode away to nothing. Many reservists believe the decline in numbers is due not to a lack of interest on the part of people looking to join but due to the lack of importance with which the Reserve is viewed by elements within the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence. It is now clear to me, to many in the Reserve Defence Force and, I assume, the Minister of State that the single force concept does not benefit the Reserve. Will the Minister of State make a commitment that the Reserve Defence Force will be given a defined role, which is essential for both its future development and the morale of the organisation; that reservists will be allowed to play a meaningful and worthwhile role in support of the Permanent Defence Force, PDF; and that members of the RDF will become an integral part of the decision-making process surrounding their activities in order that they be involved? Until we address these key issues, the strength figures will go down and down again and we will back here in six weeks' time discussing the same issue.

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