Defence Forces Reserve is on life-support with no urgency to provide a cure

Successive governments have agreed that the minimum strength of the army reserve should be 3,869 and the minimum for the navy should be 200. Therefore, while the official figures show they are grossly understrength, the actual figures quoted by Neil Richardson, general secretary of the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association, point to a meltdown. File Picture: Denis Minihane

Much has been made of the issues the Permanent Defence Forces is battling thanks to a lack of personnel. 

The same manpower crisis is impacting the 'Reserves', who are supposed to be their back-up but who are now in serious danger of extinction.

The official figures show there are 1,387 army reservists and 103 in the naval reserve. However, according to the man who represents these personnel those figures are misleading and the totals are far less.

Neil Richardson, general secretary of the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association (RDFRA), said just 755 army reservists undertook paid training last year, along with only 64 reservists in the navy.

The association argues that this is the real remaining strength of the RDF; the rest are inactive personnel who are simply still showing on the books.

Successive governments have agreed that the minimum strength of the army reserve should be 3,869 and the minimum for the navy should be 200.

Therefore, while the official figures show they are grossly understrength, the actual figures quoted by Mr Richardson point to a meltdown.

The crazy thing is people want to join the RDF, whereas the opposite is the case in the Permanent Defence Forces which is haemorrhaging personnel hand over fist.

Mr Richardson points out that RDF recruitment reopened in March last year but was shut down by July.

“This was not due to a lack of interest, but as a result of receiving so many applications (over 1,000) that the Defence Forces closed the online application portal in order to process what applications the RDF had already received by that date,” he said.

This shows the sheer level of interest that is out there, and if only the resources were put in place to promptly induct these applicants into the RDF, the force would be well on its way to recovery.

Mr Richardson told the Irish Examiner that, as with every recent RDF recruitment competition that preceded this one, the resources – particularly in the area of medical testing – were not put in place, and so lengthy delays once more resulted in a large number of applicants withdrawing as weeks turned into months and the Defence Forces still could not process them into the organisation.

This, he says, is "enraging” for serving reservists.

“On the one hand, we are looking at a huge number of people who want to join the RDF; numbers like this could save the force. On the other hand, we are watching these recruitment competitions become wasted opportunity after wasted opportunity, because the resources to induct these applicants are never put in place,” Mr Richardson said.

RDF recruitment reopened in March last year but was shut down by July. 'This was not due to a lack of interest, but as a result of receiving so many applications (over 1,000) that the Defence Forces closed the online application portal in order to process what applications the RDF had already received by that date,' says Mr Richardson. File Picture: Larry Cummins

He criticised the fact that there is also no dedicated governing/oversight body within the Defence Forces for the RDF, so there’s no one centrally co-ordinating all the various RDF matters.

An entire chapter of the Commission on the Defence Forces report was dedicated to the RDF and included a raft of excellent recommendations, two of which were essential early actions: the establishment of an Office of Reserve Affairs by August 2022 to manage the force properly into the future; and the drafting of an RDF Re-generation Plan by December 2022.

“To date, nothing has happened with either project and those responsible for implementing the commission’s report have stated that these projects will ‘not be achieved by March 1, 2023’, which leaves the exact implementation date worryingly open ended,” Mr Richardson says.

The last White Paper on Defence, which was published in 2015, included several projects aimed at improving and strengthening the RDF.

By the time of the publication of the Commission’s report last February – which essentially superseded the White Paper – not one of the RDF projects from the White Paper, which was by then seven years old – had been implemented.

Mr Richardson says his association now has serious concerns that, for the RDF at least, the commission’s report may become ‘White Paper 2.0’.

He says that while RDF recruitment was shut down last July, recruitment to the Permanent Defence Forces remains open year-round.

“The Defence Forces has announced the impending launch of an app designed to improve internal communications for members. However, it will not be rolled out to the RDF at the same time as the PDF and there is currently no definitive date for an RDF release. The Defence Forces published a ‘Year in Review Statement 2022’ recently on its website; the RDF is not mentioned once in the report,” Mr Richardson said.

“Individually, these matters may seem trivial, but collectively they are highly symbolic. The ‘Single Force Concept’ is an often-repeated phrase within the Defence Forces: meaning that the PDF and RDF should all be considered as part of the one Defence Forces. Both elements of the Defence Forces are certainly facing immense challenges at present, but developments such as these only cause unnecessary additional frustration to reservists,” he added.

Section 9.1 of the Commission on the Defence Forces’ report states the following: "From the commission’s engagement with RDF members and members of the PDF who work with the Reserve, it is apparent that the RDF is in an extremely weakened state. While commission members were very impressed by the high quality and clear commitment of the RDF personnel that they met, it was also apparent that morale is at a very low ebb, with many dedicated members of the view that the RDF is being allowed to 'die on its feet'." 

The report added that many firmly believe that both the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence are not willing to take the necessary urgent and corrective action to prevent the decline of the RDF.

Section 9.1 went on to state: "This belief is strengthened by the fact that, of the 13 projects related to the RDF arising out of the White Paper on Defence 2015, not one had been commenced when the Commission began its work in December 2020. As part of its work, the commission received submissions from both the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence which stressed the importance of the RDF, and an apparent commitment to its revitalisation.

Nevertheless, the commission believes that the RDF’s current status is quite unacceptable and is concerned about the extent of genuine commitment to supporting and developing the RDF."

'On the RDF’s tombstone, will be same words from Spike Milligan’s grave: Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite (I told you I was sick)'.

Mr Richardson says: “If someone complains often enough, the complaints can become background noise. But the reality is that the RDF has less than 1,000 active members remaining and unnecessary roadblocks are in place everywhere that are preventing the RDF from regenerating, despite the dedication of serving members (who are serving in the RDF on top of their day jobs) and the desire of so many others to join up.”

The RDFRA general secretary brings the famous comedian Spike Milligan into the equation to emphasise a point.

“The fear is that, in a few years’ time, key stakeholders will be metaphorically standing around the RDF’s grave when the force is no more and wondering what went wrong, despite RDFRA’s and other advocates’ attempts to halt the decline. And there, on the RDF’s tombstone, will be same words from Spike Milligan’s grave: Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite (I told you I was sick),” Mr Richardson said.