Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 March 2026
16. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence the total capital and current expenditure allocated to the Reserve Defence Forces in each of the years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025; the proportion this represents of the overall defence budget in each year; whether she considers this allocation adequate given the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17548/26]
View answerReserve Defence Force (RDF) funding is provided on Subhead A.5 of the Defence Vote. This allocation provides current expenditure funding for paid training and miscellaneous allowances for the Army Reserve and the Naval Service Reserve. It also provides for the payment of gratuities to members of the Fist Line Reserve.
Expenditure allocated to this subhead for the years 2019 to 2025, together with the proportion of the overall Defence Vote that these allocations represent, is set out in the table below.
In addition, the RDF also benefits from the increasing levels of capital investment now evident on Defence Equipment, Infrastructural, Transport & IT capabilities.
Reserve Defence Force Allocation 2019-2025
|
Year
|
V36 Gross Allocation €'000 |
V36 Total Allocation €'000 |
% of overall V36 Budget |
|
2019 |
2,150 |
758,048 |
0.28% |
|
2020 |
1,650 |
781,031 |
0.21% |
|
2021 |
2,000 |
809,781 |
0.25% |
|
2022 |
2,000 |
836,431 |
0.24% |
|
2023 |
2,050 |
915,362 |
0.22% |
|
2024 |
2,350 |
932,698 |
0.25% |
|
2025 |
3,500 |
1,039,369 |
0.34% |
The last two years have witnessed a resurgence in the Reserve. The strength of the Reserve Defence Force, as of the 31 December 2025, was: -
• 204 First line Reserve personnel and
• 1,612 Second Line Reserve personnel which is comprised of 1,481 Army Reserve personnel and 131 Naval Service personnel.
My key priority is the modernisation of our Defence Forces, and revitalising our Reserve Defence Force is a vital part of that transformation process. In that context, the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) Regeneration Plan published in July 2024, contains 27 actions across four objectives, namely: Recruit & Retain; Resource; Train & Educate and Integrate & Deploy.
The regeneration plan was developed in line with the recommendations in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. One of the 4 operational objectives is to improve the induction process with the aim of achieving an effective strength of 80% by 2028.
Recruitment increased substantially in 2024 and continues to gain momentum with approx. 300 applicants in pre-induction training at the end of 2025. This growth will be reflected in the 2026 strength figures. Implementation of the regeneration plan is being monitored to address any blockages arising and to ensure progress across the 27 actions.
Other areas of work underway in the Reserve Defence Force sphere include:
• A new RDF Recruitment system, which will result in a more streamlined and user-friendly process for applicants.
• A significant RDF advertising awareness campaign is in the final stages of development. This will be coordinated across all media modes including television and radio adverts, to raise the public’s awareness of the opportunities available in the RDF.
• A substantial expansion of the RDF budget in support of the enhanced role of the RDF. To illustrate this, the budget allocation in 2025 was €3.542m and I have further increased it to €4.535m for 2026 – an increase of almost €1 million (28%).
• To ensure the framework for the Reserve is fit for purpose a review of the current legal and policy framework governing the RDF is underway. The second part of this review will focus on options for employment protection legislation.
I recently met with the Reserve Defence Force representative body, RDFRA, and had a very constructive discussion on the continued development of the Reserve. At that meeting, I assured RDFRA, that one of my key goals as Minister for Defence, is to develop a Reserve Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy on a voluntary basis, with the Permanent Defence Force, both on-island and overseas, as is recommended in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.
