Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 50: To ask the Minister for Defence when the 12 members of the Defence Forces Reserve specialists will be dispatched to Kosovo; the length of time in regard to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9779/09]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 57: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will introduce legislation to allow members of the Defence Forces Reserve to serve overseas; when he expects that to occur; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9845/09]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 57 together.

In line with the provisions of the Defence Forces Reserve review implementation plan, it is hoped that a small number of reservists will be able to undertake overseas service in late 2009.

The organisational changes, enhancements to clothing, equipment, training and the piloting of the integrated reserve, all delivered as part of the implementation plan, have improved the capabilities of the Defence Forces Reserve. It was intended as part of the plan that those improvements in capability would build towards overseas service by members of the reserve.

The military authorities have identified a small number of overseas posts requiring specific skills that may be filled by members of the reserve. That is likely to involve deployment to the mission in Kosovo for a period of six months. Any commitment to overseas service by members of the reserve will be on a voluntary basis. The military authorities have sought expressions of interest from among suitably qualified reservists who have undertaken integrated training. The military authorities are at an advanced stage in identifying reservists who may be eligible and willing to apply for a small number of specified overseas positions. Final selection of personnel will be dependent on interested personnel completing an extensive training schedule to upskill to the requisite military standards to enable them to serve overseas. It will also be dependent on their personal availability.

It is intended to make regulatory provision to allow suitably qualified members of the Defence Forces Reserve to qualify for service with the Permanent Defence Forces for the express purpose of this overseas service. Terms and conditions of service are being actively examined and the representative associations will be consulted in the near future. I am pleased that such work is proceeding on schedule in line with plan provisions.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Obviously, that is a very welcome development. Will the Minister confirm the report that appeared in the media that 12 reservists will be taking part, including heavy-duty mechanics, medical specialists and information technology experts? What will be the position with regard to their pay? I take it a number of these people will be leaving paid employment to go to Kosovo. How will the issue of pay be addressed for the six months they will spend there?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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It is planned to send 12 people on an initial pilot scheme. They will be recruited temporarily into the Permanent Defence Forces, PDF, to enable the deployment to take place, because the legislation provides that only members of the PDF can be sent overseas. When we are drafting legislation to allow members of the Defence Forces Reserve to be sent overseas on a regular basis, rather than by temporary arrangement as in this case, we will consider various issues. One of the barriers is conditions of employment and we must iron out the issue in that regard. We will learn some lessons from the initial deployment.

There have been 24 expressions of interest and I am informed that the people chosen will come from that group. They will be people whose personal circumstances, whether by arrangement with their employer or because they are self-employed, allow them to make the trip for six months.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Has the Minister any intention of introducing legislation such as that in the UK where the jobs of people who are members of the reserve and who decide to travel on missions such as Kosovo are guaranteed? Has the Minister made any progress on developing the first line reserve? If we had a first line reserve available, we would have people with previous experience on foreign missions who would be available to become involved in missions such as that in Kosovo.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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First, to respond to a question asked by Deputy O'Shea, those sent will be specialists, such as mechanics, IT people and engineers, etc. These are the types of people we are targeting.

With regard to Deputy Deenihan's question on whether we will have legislation along the lines of the UK legislation, I imagine that will be factored in when the legislation is drafted. We must provide for something along those lines. We are getting over the problem temporarily by recruiting people from the Defence Forces Reserve into the Permanent Defence Forces so as to keep within the legislation. These people will leave the PDF a short time after their return. We will have to consider something along the lines of job protection.

On the first line reserve, we are still at the early stages and have made no significant progress. We are concentrating on upping the numbers of the integrated reserve to come somewhere near the targets we set out in the White Paper.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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With regard to those who serve in the pilot group of 12 and subsequent groups, are there any prospects of them becoming members of the Permanent Defence Forces? The campaign for recruitment to the reserve is now on hold, although I understand that if people volunteer, they will be recruited. However, there will not be a recruitment campaign. Would it not make the reserve a more attractive proposition if people considering becoming involved in the reserve saw the prospect of becoming full-time members of the Permanent Defence Forces?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know. The position is we have the regular Defence Force and the reserve. What we are doing here is allowing members of the reserve, for the first time ever, to serve overseas. This is a significant development. We are not short of applicants for the recruitment campaign to the Permanent Defence Forces, with approximately five applicants for every position. The campaign is stopped temporarily, but we hope to reverse that later this year.