Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Much of this relates to the large breakdown in rural and regional units of the Reserve Defence Forces. Mr. Richardson mentioned at that committee meeting that 6,000 applications were received between September 2015 and December 2016 and out of those applicants, 60 were recruited. That shows the mismatch between the numbers who might be interested and the numbers who go on to become reservists. We have a destructive policy where there is an element of contagion. The breakdown of the units is leading to a lack of involvement in proper defence policy.

The Minister of State needs to have the Reserve as a more integral part of defence policy so that they are actually valued within the whole architecture of defence.

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