Numbers have dwindled however to 1,801 members with 1,000 approximately considered active reservists.

Members of the country's Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) are being paid on average 18% less than the rates being given to their counterparts in the regular forces.

The Government has been accused of running down the Defence Forces to such an extent that if there was a major security crisis, the country has been left “woefully unprepared, dramatically undefended, and shamefully exposed.”

Retired Lieut Col Dan Harvey said the Defence Forces is "broken" and "in crisis" with "morale at an all-time low," because they are "overlooked and undervalued, overworked, underpaid, over-stretched and undermanned."

Former members of the Defence Forces and a lobby group are combining to picket all TDs’ offices this Saturday to highlight the poor pay and conditions being endured by serving soldiers, sailors and aircrews.

Here's your lunchtime bulletin.

The Department of Defence is considering scrapping, or lowering, intelligence tests, which are used to select recruits to the army, naval service, and air corps.

Special medals given to members of the Defence Forces to commemorate the 1916 centenary are being sold on Ebay and similar online auction sites.

Naval officers organised a whip-around to bail out a number of recruits who have not been paid for weeks.

Naval officers organised a whip-around to bail out a number of recruits who have not been paid for weeks.

Your letters, your views.

The Government’s plan to double the number of women in the Defence Forces will fail unless its stops discriminating against them.

The Defence Forces are on a mission to recruit more women with a number of new child-friendly initiatives and visits to schools and colleges aiming to sell a career in the military.

The army has unveiled its first €1m computerised firing range which will make a camp in Co Cork one of its finest and busiest training centres.

On yer bike. That’s the message to the main parties from Independent candidates who say it’s time there was a shift away from "failed mainstream politics".

The President has taken part in the Easter Rising commemoration in Dublin, where he was joined by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter will appear before an Oireachtas Committee today to discuss a number of issues, including the transfer of passenger name records.

SALES of former military barracks which were shut down over the past 12 years have netted the Government almost €85 million, but property experts claim they will be lucky to find any buyers for four Defence Forces sites due to be closed soon.

I WISH to contribute my thoughts and opinion on the ongoing dispute about the cost versus value of the (Reserve Defence Forces) RDF.

I FEEL compelled to reply to Aisling Murphy (Letters, Nov 9). She asked how many Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) personnel turned in during the bad weather last winter.

THE Defence Minister has insisted he will prioritise current Defence Force numbers — even if it’s at the expense of closing barracks that have no strategic importance.

Two women and 10 men will be commissioned as officers in the Reserve Defence Forces later.

The Army’s officers of the future will be put through their paces today when they start cadet school.

A REZONING decision by Kerry County Council opens the way for a new 92-bedroom hotel in the Caragh Lake area, Killorglin.

The Irish Army will take delivery next week of the final two Armoured Personnel Carriers of the 25 purchased this year, it was confirmed today.

Ireland’s Reserve Defence Forces are to be trained to become part-time soldiers under a plan due to be launched by Defence Minister Michael Smith today.

MEMBERS of the Defence Forces who test positive for drugs under a new random screening programme will automatically be dismissed.