Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 76: To ask the Minister for Defence if he remains committed to involving Reserve Defence Force personnel overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30161/10]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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In March 2009, the Government introduced a moratorium on recruitment to the Public Service. This moratorium prevented the planned recruitment of members of the Reserve to the PDF for the purpose of overseas service, as intended. Reductions in the Defence payroll budget at that time also limited the scope for payment of additional personnel. Accordingly, arrangements to send members of the Reserve overseas, which were well developed in line with the RDF Review Implementation Plan, were suspended.

To date, the operational requirements for overseas service have been met from within the Permanent Defence Force, without recourse to Reserve capabilities. As outlined in the budget in December 2009, Defence Forces commitments to overseas peace support operations are being scaled back in 2010. As a consequence, the number of PDF personnel serving overseas has reduced. Accordingly, the plan to deploy members of the Reserve Defence Force on overseas peace support operations has been postponed for the foreseeable future.

The Reserve Defence Force was selected for review as part of the 2009 – 2011 phase of the Government's Value for Money and Policy Review initiative and this review has commenced. The findings of the Value For Money review, including the lessons learned from the RDF Review Implementation Plan process, will inform future plans for the reserve.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 77: To ask the Minister for Defence the position regarding the return of the vehicles and equipment used by the army in the Chad mission; the cost involved; and if same will be reimbursed. [30034/10]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Following the decision to withdraw the Irish Contingent from the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic of Chad (MINURCAT), the priority for the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces was to achieve an orderly withdrawal of personnel and equipment from the country. The Irish contingent deployed with MINURCAT was withdrawn in May 2010 and I am advised that the recovery of equipment and assets, which is a huge logistical task, is well underway at this stage.

The recovery operation has been contracted to a company in Chad, SDV TCHAD based in N'djamena. The company is providing a door-to-door service for the recovery of all the Defence Forces assets from Chad to Ireland. This included the transfer of assets and equipment from Goz Beida to N'djamena, the transfer of assets by road/rail from N'djamena to Douala in Cameroon, the air transport of certain assets from N'djamena to Douala, the storage / loading of the equipment in Douala and finally, the shipment of all the equipment to the Defence Forces Training Centre, in the Curragh Camp. At this stage, all the equipment is in Douala in preparation for loading on to a ship. The loading of the ship is scheduled for next week and it is expected that the ship will arrive in Ireland prior to the end of the month.

The cost of the recovery operation will be over €6m. When the operation is complete, negotiations will be undertaken with the UN regarding reimbursement in respect of aspects of the cost of the withdrawal. It is expected that the UN will reimburse a significant element of the recovery costs. However, it is not possible at this stage to establish the exact figure in this regard.