Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2023
361. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if recruitment is currently open to the Reserve Defence Force; if not, when recruitment will re-open; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8719/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government remains fully committed to the advancement of the Reserve Defence Force (RDF). The 2015 White Paper on Defence is quite clear that there is a continued requirement to retain and develop the Reserve and this is not in question.
The Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces (CODF), published last February, equally serves to reinforce that commitment and the Report contains many recommendations on the future role and structure of the RDF.
Two recommendations from the report, which have been identified as Early Actions, relate to the RDF, namely the establishment of the Office of Reserve Affairs (ORA), and the development of a Regeneration Plan for the Reserve.
Planning by the military authorities has commenced on establishing the ORA and once this is established, it will be actively involved in implementing the other accepted recommendations of the CoDF.
This process will also take into consideration, of course, the recommendations relating to the structure and strength of the RDF, which include that the future establishment of the RDF should be increased and should include, at a minimum, an Air Force Reserve of 200, and a Navy Reserve of 400.
The Deputy may be aware that a recruitment drive for the RDF was launched in March 2022, which was advertised across a number of media channels while Recruit Liaison Officers across the RDF conducted local recruitment to attract applicants for this campaign.
Over 1000 applications were received during this window, which is very encouraging, and I understand that the majority of those applications are now through the initial assessment stages and are currently moving to the medicals process.
To date, 90 RDF recruits have been inducted into the Defence Forces with further inductions scheduled, and the military authorities have additionally advised me that once the body of work arising from last year's campaign is completed, consideration will be given to the launch of a further recruitment initiative in mid-2023.
I would like to assure the Deputy that it is my intention, and that of the Chief of Staff, to ensure that the momentum behind the regeneration of the RDF will be maintained throughout 2023 and beyond, thereby enabling us, going forward, to create a Reserve Defence Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy with the Permanent Defence Force, both nationally and internationally.
