Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I agree with some of what he said. It certainly would be factual to say that the Reserve Defence Force went through a rocky period in terms of recruitment and retention. This was through no fault of its own. We have been working in line with the commission on the Defence Forces to get that to a much better place. I acknowledge the Deputy's welcoming some of the progress that has been made. It is factually true that I believe we are now in a place where the Reserve Defence Force is growing in terms of its numbers and will continue to grow. What I am saying is that we expect to get to at least 80% of where we want to be by 2028. That will bring us to a figure of well over 3,000. We are only going to get there if we continue to take action. The office of the Reserve Defence Force and what it termed the regeneration plan represent the way forward. The plan contains specific actions on recruiting and retaining personnel, resourcing the Reserve, training and educating reservists and integrating and deploying the Reserve as well. I met their association recently. If we continue in this way, we can make a lot of progress.

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