Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 114: To ask the Minister for Defence his proposals to introduce a conciliation and arbitration scheme for the Reserve Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3498/09]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Defence Force Regulations S.7 and its enabling legislation, the Defence Amendment Act, 1990, provide for representative structures for members of the Defence Forces including the Army and Naval Reserves. The question of a Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for the ranks represented by the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association (RDFRA) has been raised by representatives of the association in the past.

There are three (3) Conciliation and Arbitration Schemes in the country covering Teachers, Civil Servants and the Permanent Defence Force. Each covers an organisation with very large numbers of permanent employees.

The Permanent Defence Force C&A scheme addresses issues affecting the livelihood of members of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF). The Reserve Defence Force (RDF) is a voluntary force and members are not dependant on it for their livelihood. Members of the RDF automatically accrue the benefits of improvements in pay and conditions made to their PDF colleagues. I am of the view therefore that a C&A scheme such as that in operation for the PDF Associations is not appropriate for the RDF.

Under existing arrangements, RDFRA has open access to both the Department and the Military Authorities. A number of meetings take place each year between the Association and officials of the Department and separately between the Association and the Military Authorities. The frequency of this interaction has increased in recent times reflecting the modernisation agenda that is being progressed. My Department has initiated a joint forum where RDFRA, the Military and officials from the Department meet to collectively discuss and progress areas of concern to members of the RDFRA. The first such meeting was held in January 2007.

Significant progress is being made in the modernisation of the Reserve. There is great credit due to both the members of the Reserve and their Representative Association for their contribution to this progress.

Officials of my Department continue to discuss the issue with RDFRA. I will keep this situation under review to ensure that the good progress made to date continues into the future.