Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Defence when he will publish his value for money review of the Defence Forces. [39497/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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A Value for Money Review of the Reserve Defence Force is ongoing and the Steering Committee, established to oversee the VFM Review of the Reserve, met most recently on the 19th September. The Steering Committee is working towards completing the report by the end of this month. The Steering Committee commenced its work in February 2010 and in the intervening period other priorities such as undertaking the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure (CRE), diverted analytical resources away from the Value for Money Review. In this context, the Review has taken longer than anticipated. However, in practical terms, the development of proposals for the Reserve would have been premature in advance of the outcome of the CRE.

No decisions have been made regarding the future development of the Reserve pending the Minister’s receipt and consideration of the Value for Money report. The Minister is looking forward to receiving the VFM Report and considering its recommendations. You will appreciate that any further comments at this point, including possible options for the future development of the RDF, would be pre-empting the final report and the Minister is anxious to allow the Steering Committee to complete its work. The report will subsequently be published on the Department’s website in line with the normal VFM process.