Vol. 496 No. 4
71 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide details of the membership of the study group of the Reserve Defence Force; the work programme undertaken by this group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22986/98]
In October, 1997 the Chief of Staff established a military board comprising officers drawn from Defence Forces Headquarters, the command FCA staffs, the Naval Service and the Air Corps to conduct a study of the Reserve Defence Force as recommended in the Defence Forces Review Implementation Plan. The Chief of Staff also established a consultative group for the purpose of assisting the military board in its examination of the reserve. The consultative group consists of one officer and one non-commissioned officer from each of the four commands and the Naval Service.
To date the military board has met on approximately 50 occasions and with a view to completing its deliberations at an early date is meeting twice weekly at present. The board also met with the consultative group on three occasions. These meetings took the form of weekend seminars. The board submitted an interim report to the Chief of Staff earlier this year and it is anticipated that the board's final report will be submitted to the Chief of Staff before the end of this year.
In January, 1998 I set up a joint civilian-military steering group to oversee and guide the military board study. The steering group has eight members — an independent chairman, three senior civil servants, three senior military officers and a serving officer of An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil. The steering group secretary is a civil servant. To date, the group has met on a total of 18 occasions. As part of its work the group visited some FCA and Slua Muiri training exercises and camps and is scheduled to visit a further such exercise in December. The steering group submitted an interim report on 30 July 1998 and the final report is due to be submitted early next year.
