Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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50. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if she is aware that 58% of appointments at the rank of commandant in the Army Reserve are vacant; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the equivalent number of vacancies for the Naval Service Reserve is 50% and that there have been no promotions to this rank in over four years, despite qualified candidates having been interviewed; her views on the effects of a lack of senior officers on the revitalisation plan for the RDF arising out of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [67344/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The military authorities have advised that the Defence Forces have recently concluded Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve promotion board deliberations that will substantially address vacancies at Commandant (AR) and Lieutenant Commander (NSR) ranks in the Reserve Defence Forces.

A delay in progressing these promotions was due to the requirement for an amendment to Defence Force Regulation R5 to enable the convening of a national authority for RDF promotion competitions, a practice that mirrors PDF officer promotion competitions. The military authorities have further advised that additional delays occurred as, given the nature of Reserve service and candidate availability, allied with the substantial number of candidates presenting, the board proceedings were of a longer duration than that which would routinely apply in a PDF context.

The filling of these and other positions continues to be recognised as an essential enabler in the continuing Reserve Revitalisation process.