Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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8. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence to discuss the need to ensure increased recruitment to the Reserve Defence Force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6439/25]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Tánaiste and I had an engagement a while ago that was primarily about the Permanent Defence Force. I want to bring to the Tánaiste's attention the issue of the Reserve Defence Force, RDF. It is a seriously depleted organisation that has much greater potential. It has a huge ability to support the Permanent Defence Force in its own right. As of 15 October, the current strength of the RDF is 1,720. We are a long way from the target of 4,500 that has been set for 2028. How are we going to achieve that target?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for raising this issue. As he rightly said, there is huge potential in further expanding the Reserve Defence Force and the already incredible work done by its members. I remain committed to bolstering the numbers in the Reserve Defence Force. I am very much aware that the ability to increase its strength is fundamental to the regeneration of the force. The strength of the RDF is a key focus of the Defence Forces office of Reserve affairs. It was a welcome development to have that dedicated office established. It was a recommendation from the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces. A priority for this office was the development of the Reserve Defence Force regeneration and development plan. This was published only last July. The implementation of this plan sets out 27 actions specifically to revitalise our Reserve Defence Force.

One of the four operational objectives of this plan is maintaining a robust and dynamic induction process with the aim of achieving an effective strength of 80% by 2028. To that end, the Defence Forces have prioritised recruitment into the Reserve Defence Force. I am pleased to say we have seen very positive gains in this respect, albeit from a low base, with 268 members being inducted in 2024. That is an increase of in excess of 300% over 2023, when 65 new members were inducted.

A range of recruitment measures continue to support this objective, including the increase in upper recruitment and mandatory retirement ages for the Reserve Defence Forces to match comparable increases for the Permanent Defence Force.

A further measure is the implementation of a managed induction process whereby a recruitment liaison officer maintains contact with applicants throughout the induction process in order to facilitate an expeditious recruitment process and make sure we do not lose people who put their hands up and say they are interested. There is also an on-boarding process which enables candidates to undergo pre-attestation recruit training. In addition, the office of Reserve affairs has created a Reserve strategic engagement team comprising reservists with relevant marketing, advertising and media production skills. This has led to a number of initiatives to promote recruitment.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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There is a sense of a lack of ambition with respect to redeveloping the Reserve Defence Force. Typically, reserve defence forces are a critical element of recruitment to permanent defence forces. We are at critically low levels. Indeed, the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces reflected the fact that the Reserve Defence Force is important in terms of surge capacity as required. That is not remotely possible at present. There is hardly another reserve defence force in Europe whose membership is a fraction of that of the permanent army. In many cases it is multiples of it. In the past, in virtually every significant town there would have been an FCA hall and an FCA presence with personnel from across the community. We do not really see that any more. Many people have very little contact with or awareness of the Reserve Defence Force. In large parts of the country, it is effectively non-existent. Surely we have to recognise that the Reserve is the best way to attract new recruits. I welcome the actions the Tánaiste outlined.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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My next question was going to be whether the Tánaiste planned to meet with them. I am glad that he has met them. I hope he took on board some of their suggestions and requests. From what he is saying, it seems that the target is effectively no longer 4,500 for 2028, but 3,000. That would be a fair step back. It was only on 15 October last that the current Taoiseach committed to the target of 4,500. That is a reduction in terms of the ambition. In any event, I appreciate the realisation that it is not a sustainable situation. There are probably parts of the country that require very particular focus because it is stronger in some areas than others. Also, there is more of a tradition of it in some places. I hope the Tánaiste can tell me what suggestions from the representative organisation he might take on board.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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To be clear, the target in terms of what the effective strength of our Reserve Defence Force should be remains the same. We do not disagree on that figure in terms of where we need to get to. When the regeneration and development plan was published in July 2024, one of the four operational objectives was to get us to that effective strength of at least 80% by 2028. If we were to map out exactly what 80% is, it is around 3,500. That is the sort of ball park we are in. I am not saying that is where we stop, but that is where we have line of sight in terms of where I believe we can get to. The effective strength in terms of ambition remains the same.

I did have the pleasure of meeting the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association. It was a very good meeting. I do not want to speak for them, but they noted the progress in the office being established and now the regeneration plan. Like all representative bodies, quite rightly, they will want to hold my feet to the fire in terms of making sure we are implementing and driving forward those recommendations, and I am determined to do that. I also want a Reserve that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy on a voluntary basis with our Permanent Defence Force both on the island and overseas.