Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to the Chamber.

I welcome this high-level action plan to deal with the recommendations, some 69 main recommendations, from the Commission on the Defence Forces. I will hone in on a couple of key areas. I will give some personal views and insight into two of them.

I welcome the acknowledgement that there is a gender issue but we also must acknowledge that by its very nature we will never have a 50:50 ratio. Ireland is not unique in that regard when considering armies across the world. There will always be more men than women because of the nature of the job. In saying that, appointing a gender adviser is not going to do a whole lot. There are a couple of key areas to focus on. I do not believe that the Defence Forces are an unsafe place for women. I served in the Defence Forces as a reservist for 13 years. I never once felt unsafe. It is, however, a macho culture and there is no doubt about that. This can be dealt with. We had annual lectures on harassment and bullying within the Defence Forces, which was a mandatory lecture that every member of the Permanent Defence Force and the Reserve Defence Force had to take when they went on their first training course. That sunk in and over time it bedded in and it changed attitudes and cultures. With an annual lecture, whenever somebody goes for training or they put on the uniform for the first time that year, they must get that training in gender, bias, and how to treat other people with respect. Over time it will bed in.

We must also acknowledge that women have babies and this impacts on their ability to perform what is a physical job. The demands to go overseas for service impact on a person's ability to progress in the organisation. Again, this makes it more difficult to retain women in the Defence Forces. If we look at those two things it will go a long way towards increasing our numbers.

I also wish to focus on the Army Reserve, which, when I was in it, was called the Reserve Defence Force, and when I first joined it was the FCA. It is had a few different iterations over the years. When I was the Defence spokesperson six years ago we were having these conversations about recruitment and retention right across the Defence Forces. We know the issues in the Permanent Defence Force, PDF. The Reserve is slightly different. We are supposed to have more than 4,000 reservists, but on the last count I believe my most recent figures are that we are at 1,380. We are not even halfway there. Those 1,380 people are there despite the barriers and the challenges that the Defence Forces and the Department put in their way. It costs them to be members of the Reserve Defence Force. They get nothing out of it financially. They are there for grá, for love of their country and the community, and because they want to serve.

I would ask the Minister and make a special request that he would engage directly with them - it is a small number of people - to get their views on this action plan. It is quite vague on details on how we are going to address the huge retention and recruitment problem we have in the Reserve Defence Force. I ask the Minister to speak directly with that group of people. They will tell us straight away where the gaps are and where it falls. It is not just in terms of pay, although what they get is derisory and often does not cover their expenses in taking time off work. There are limits in terms of man days and how many days they can serve. Barriers are put in their way with regard to training courses.

Ultimately, at the crux of it, we have closed so many barracks that we removed the Army from so many communities. It is no different than when a young person is in secondary school and college: if it is too far away then the student is just not going to get there. It is like the local GAA club or local soccer club or whatever it might be. When I joined the Reserve Defence Force that was my extracurricular activity and what I did as opposed to playing football or soccer. That was how I started off and 13 years later I ended up as an officer. If we do not make it closer to communities and reopen outposts or areas where reservists can meet without having to travel long distances, then we will never deal with the recruitment issue. As I have said, we must reach out to that group of people. They will tell the Minister directly what needs to be done. The changes are minor and will not cost a lot of money.

We must acknowledge that not only do we want reservists ready to step up to assist the Permanent Defence Force, there is also the huge benefit to the individual, and especially to young people, in being a member of the Reserve Defence Force. It builds character and resilience and a person makes connections and friends for life. The social benefits are not measurable but they have been discounted and disregarded over the years. I ask the Minister to pay special attention to that.

Other colleagues have spoken about cyberthreats and the need to deal with that aspect of what the future is in the context of threats to our country. I note and acknowledge the recent polling by EMI that 56% of our citizens actually favour greater co-operation on defence and security with our European partners and other member states. This probably means different things to different people, but things have changed. Given the war in Ukraine and, as Senator Malcolm Byrne has said, the cyberattack on our HSE, people's attitudes have changed.We should not be afraid to have that conversation with our citizens. Perhaps he cannot do it this evening, but it would be good if the Minister outlined how he foresees our Defence Forces engaging further with their counterparts in other member states. While the projected increase in defence funding up to €1.5 billion is welcome, it is a small enough contribution in comparison with other member states and we do not have the resources or capabilities to defend our State against cyberattacks of that nature. That has been proven. We need to work with other member states to pool resources and knowledge if we are to have any chance of preventing that happening again.