Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Brendan Smith (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I sincerely hope that the laudable objectives he outlined from the RDF regeneration development plan, which was published in July 2024, are implemented with as much impetus as possible. It is extremely important that we increase the numbers. The RDF should have a greater presence throughout the country and in each community. Deputy Crowe and I were on the foreign affairs and defence committee from 2016 to 2020. At that time, as Cathaoirleach of the committee, I invited the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association, RDFRA, to come before the committee. We gave its representatives an opportunity to outline the particular issues which, in the RDFRA's view, faced the RDF at that time. One of the issues, as the Minister of State noted, was the need for better advertising campaigns for recruitment and better support to ensure that retention levels are improved.
By and large, the Reserve Defence Force costs the State very little. The State could be much more generous in paying people for the time they are losing in their day jobs. In many instances, they have to undergo additional medical checks. The payments they get for those medical checks do not even pay the GP for the medical examination. Those types of things are small from the State's point of view but they are big to the individuals and addressing them could help to increase both retention and recruitment.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17