Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 February 2017
37. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his views on claims that the Reserve Defence Force could cease to exist within months if extra commitments are not provided to strengthen the organisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7602/17]
View answerI wish to ask the Minister of State at the Department of Defence for his response to claims that the Reserve Defence Force could cease to exist within months if extra commitments are not given to strengthen the organisation, and if he will make a statement.
For the avoidance of any doubt, I want to state very clearly that there are no plans to stand down the Reserve and I do not accept the assertion that the Reserve will cease to exist within months. On the contrary, in the White Paper on Defence 2015, the Government has reaffirmed its commitment in terms of the Reserve. My Government colleagues and I recognise the important role that the Reserve Defence Force has played in contributing to Ireland's defence capability, and in particular, to the voluntary service which has been the hallmark of the Reserve. The Government appreciates the service of the members of the Reserve and the White Paper on Defence is clear that there is a continued requirement to retain and develop the Reserve.
Under the current phase of the implementation of White Paper actions, two relate specifically to the RDF, that is, attracting recruits from all backgrounds and conducting a skills survey with a view to establishing a Specialist Reserve.
Recruitment to both the PDF and RDF remains a priority in 2017. Membership of the RDF is voluntary and unpaid and the quest for recruits must compete with the other organisations within the voluntary sector. These conditions along with the unique demands of military service make the issue of attracting recruits a challenging one. In the context of both finite resources and personnel, it is necessary to strike an appropriate balance in terms of PDF and RDF recruitment, so as to deliver the desired effects of maintaining the capacity of the Defence Forces to undertake all roles assigned to it by Government and to advance the single force structure.
Within the Defence Vote, the Government allocates over €2 million to support paid training and it also grants financial support to the RDF Representative Association.
The Government is fully committed to the retention of the RDF.
The Minister of State might be aware that the Reserve Defence Forces Representative Association, RDFRA, appeared before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence last week. The Minister of State's own Government colleague, Deputy Seán Barrett, said the report presented to the committee was the most damning one he had seen in his 36 years as a Deputy.
Maybe the Minister of State is not aware of the current problems facing the Reserve Defence Force. RDFRA believes that the organisation will struggle to exist within two years on its current trajectory. I have raised the issue of recruitment to the Reserve Defence Force many times with the Minister of State. This is not a new issue. To put it in context, he keeps talking about the difficulty and challenges of attracting recruits. Last year, there were almost 5,000 applicants to the RDF but fewer than 100 were inducted. The issue is not about attracting recruits, it is about getting them into the organisation. The blockage is with the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. What will the Minister of State do to address that particular issue? He should stop standing behind the excuse of challenges in attracting people. That is not the problem.
I refer to the issue raised by RDFRA at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence last week. A rolling recruitment campaign for the Reserve Defence Force general service was launched in September 2015. As of 31 December 2016, a total of 5,891 applications were received of which 726 were from females. The Army Reserve had 5,190 applications while the Naval Service Reserve had 771. A total of 78 recruits were recruited to the RDF in 2016. The Defence Forces will continue to process applications from the campaign through the various competition stages. The rate of intake is disappointing. I agree entirely with the Deputy opposite on that. It reflects a number of factors, including the time the recruitment process took place, security clearances in particular, the high rate of no-shows at various stages throughout the induction campaign, the priority of keeping PDF recruitment at an appropriate level and the overhead of safe and effective training places on the resources of the PDF. While there have been a large number of applications to join the RDF, the resilience of the panel has proven to be very low.
Does the Minister of State hear what he is reading out to me? He has spoken previously about challenges in terms of attracting people and then he tells me there were over 5,000 applicants but less than 100 were inducted. Does he not see that there is a major problem with the Reserve Defence Forces? With every month that goes by in which we do not take people in, the Government is killing that organisation piece by piece. It will not exist in a number of years. That is a fact. We have people retiring who are fed up with the way the organisation is being run. The single force concept does not appear to be working and it may be that we need to rejig it.
The Government must put in place set timelines for the Defence Forces to process the applications of Reserve applicants. The fact is that the Permanent Defence Forces are under severe pressure because of years of cuts. They do not have the staff to process these applications. Processing Reserve applications probably ranks way down on the list of priorities. I tell the Minister of State in the Chamber today that what is happening is that those applications are sitting on someone's desk for months on end and they are not being processed. When they are got around to, perhaps people have run out of time. People are being asked two and three times to apply for Garda clearance. These are people who are asking to volunteer for their country and they are being treated in this manner.
Unless the Minister of State takes it upon himself to put set timelines in place for processing applications so that people get a response within a set timeframe and know what they are dealing with, we will have this problem again in two months and in six months. In two years, we will be back to talk about why the Reserve Defence Forces are ceasing to exist.
The Deputy opposite is well aware that I have similar issues of Garda clearance checks and vetting.
Garda clearance is not the problem.
It is an issue.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality told me it is not.
It is an issue for the time it is taking. I have to try to balance the PDF and the RDF. I met the deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Kevin Cotter, last week around recruitment for both the PDF and the RDF. I have a meeting with him and his team every nine weeks. I agree with the Deputy that we face a challenge, but I assure her that I have in no way-----
It is a crisis not a challenge.
It is not a crisis if one looks at recruitment in previous years. While 2016 was a very disappointing year, I am willing and want to correct the position we are in. I have my own thoughts about the single force concept. I will bring those forward. I assure the Deputy that I am working with the military to resolve the recruitment issue.
