Brendan Smith
Ceist:69. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to launch a recruitment campaign for the Reserve Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7333/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 15 February 2017
Ceisteanna (69)
Freagraí scríofa
A rolling recruitment campaign for the RDF General Service was launched in September 2015. As of 31 December, 2016 there were a total of 5,891 applicants (of which 726 were female) as follows: Army Reserve – 5,120 applicants (of which were 579 female); and Naval Service Reserve – 771 applicants (of which 147 were female).
The Defence Forces will continue to process applicants from this campaign through the various competition stages.
The Defence Forces are reviewing the 2015/2016 RDF Competition and as part of this process are examining the competition model to be used in 2017. I am informed that a new Reserve Recruitment Campaign is planned for Q3 2017.
As the Deputy will be aware, a key challenge is to recruit, train and retain sufficient personnel to meet the reserve establishment provided for in the White Paper. It is necessary to strike an appropriate balance in terms of both PDF and RDF recruitment so as to deliver the desired effects in terms of maintaining the capacity of the Defence Forces to undertake all roles assigned by Government and to advance the single-force structure. However, within that framework and having regard to the training capacity of the Defence Forces, I am anxious to accelerate the rate of recruitment to the RDF.