Éamon Ó Cuív
Question:151. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Defence the number of members presently in the Reserve Defence Force; his policy on the reserve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12877/14]
View answerTuesday, 25 March 2014
Questions (151)
Written answers
The Reserve Defence Force is currently undergoing a period of reform following publication of the Value for Money Review of the Reserve Defence Force in November, 2012. Since then, there has been significant progress made in implementing its recommendations. New organisational structures for the Reserve were introduced at the end of March, 2013 and a large number of under-strength Units have been consolidated into a smaller number of full strength Units. In addition, the way in which Reserve Units are organised has fundamentally changed. Under the new structure, Army Units within the Defence Forces have both Permanent Defence Force (PDF) and Reserve Defence Force (RDF) components, as opposed to the separate parallel structures that previously existed. This revised structure has improved access to equipment, expertise and appropriate training for members of the Reserve. It has also allowed for a significant reduction in the number of PDF personnel required to administer and train the Reserve on a full time basis.
The Reserve budget has been rebalanced and funding previously allocated to gratuities has been redirected to increase the amount of paid training available to the Reserve. This will ensure that the revised organisational strength ceiling of 4,069 personnel is sustainable within the prevailing resource envelope. The Army Reserve now has an establishment of 3,869 personnel and the Naval Service Reserve has an establishment of 200 personnel. The implementation of other recommendations is ongoing and these changes will ensure the continued viability of the Reserve. These reforms will lead to a more streamlined, fit for purpose organisation with a more cohesive relationship between the PDF and the RDF. Ultimately, the recommendations of the VFM Review that are being implemented are intended to enhance the overall capacity of the Defence Forces to deal with a broad range of contingencies.
Information in relation to the numbers of effective members of the reserve are currently being compiled following the reorganisation. While this process is ongoing as records from units are updated and reconciled on the personnel management system, it is not possible to provide an up-to-date fully accurate figure for the current strength. The best estimate based on the returns reconciled to date is that the effective strength of the Reserve is in the order of about 2,500. The military authorities plan to induct up to 500 personnel to the Reserve (both Army Reserve and Naval Service Reserve) in 2014. This will occur simultaneously with a recruitment campaign for the Permanent Defence Force and takes account of training capacity required to cater for these new personnel. I envisage that further recruitment to the Reserve will take place in 2015.