James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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45. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will outline his Department’s plans for the Defence Reserve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22894/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government remains fully committed to the advancement of the Reserve Defence Force (RDF). The 2015 White Paper on Defence is quite clear that there is a continued requirement to retain and develop the Reserve.

The Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces (CODF) equally serves to reinforce that commitment and as the Deputy will be aware, that Report contains many recommendations on the future role and structure of the RDF.

Two recommendations from the report, which have been identified as Early Actions, relate to the RDF, namely the establishment of the Office of Reserve Affairs (ORA), and the development of a Regeneration Plan for the Reserve.

I'm pleased to say that the set up of the ORA has commenced and suitable office space has been identified. The appointment of staff is already actively in train with the appointment of a Colonel to lead the ORA. The office is also currently staffed with a Lieutenant Colonel from the RDF. Further personnel will be assigned to the Unit.

The development of the Regeneration Plan will be the initial focus of the ORA and this is also in train.

This process will also take into consideration the CoDF recommendations relating to the structure and strength of the RDF, such as increasing the future RDF establishment strength which includes that the future establishment of the RDF should be increased and should include, at a minimum, an Air Force Reserve of 200, and a Navy Reserve of 400.

The Deputy may also be aware that a recruitment drive for the RDF in 2022 resulted in over 1000 applications being received, which is very encouraging, and I understand that the majority of those applications are now being progressed.

There has also been progress on the medical phase of the induction process with the outsourcing of Part 2 medicals nearing completion. The outsourcing of the contract for Part 2 medicals over a four-year period for both the PDF and the RDF, amounts to 10,000 medicals in total.

It is planned to include 600 RDF induction medicals per year as part of this overall target over the 4 year period. With the remainder of the 2022 applications already progressing, the military authorities have advised me that consideration is now being given to a further recruitment initiative for the RDF later in 2023.

I would like to assure the Deputy that it is my aim, and that of the Chief of Staff, to ensure that the regeneration of the RDF remains a key goal in 2023 and beyond.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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46. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to enable all members of the Permanent Defence Forces to benefit from the same access to private healthcare as officers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22881/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Programme for Government contained a commitment to "ensure that all enlisted members of the Defence Forces have the same access to healthcare as officers currently do". This commitment was subsequently endorsed as a recommendation of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces published in February 2022, and is one of the early actions for implementation from that report under the High Level Action Plan published by Government in July 2022.

A Working Group on Medical Care was established in 2021 to bring forward proposals and identify an approach to implementing the Programme for Government commitment. Its work included analysing the range and cost of treatments currently provided to Officers and how best to provide this access to enlisted personnel. The Working Group reported during 2022.

Following detailed discussions between officials from my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, sanction has now been provided to regularise the provision of secondary healthcare for all Defence Forces, in line with what is currently available to Officers. This is in addition to the comprehensive package of primary healthcare benefits already available to all members of the Permanent Defence Force.

The details of how this will be implemented are now being considered with a view to introducing it as expeditiously as possible.