Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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96. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if letters of invitation are being issued to Naval Service reservists to transfer to the Naval Service; and his views whether this is an appropriate method of recruitment for the Defence Forces. [44069/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The Naval Service Reserve (NSR) is an important component of the Defence Forces and there are 125 effective personnel in the NSR (as at end August).

I am informed by the military authorities that an informal query was issued by a staff officer in the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) Directorate to ascertain if any Naval Service Reservists were interested in joining the Permanent Defence Force in the future. The military authorities has confirmed that no letters of invitation to transfer to the Naval Service from the Reserve have been issued.

The RDF has typically been a source of recruitment to the PDF and over the years people who have joined the Army Reserve or Naval Service Reserve have subsequently pursued a full time military career.