Catherine Callaghan
Ceist:232. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Defence the steps being taken to increase the Reserve Defence Forces; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12456/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 17 February 2026
Ceisteanna (232)
Freagraí scríofa
I want to acknowledge the men and women of the Reserve Defence Force and the importance of the Reserve as a voluntary organisation and as an key asset for the State. The last two years have witnessed a resurgence in the Reserve.
The strength of the Reserve Defence Force, as of the 31 December 2025, is: -
• 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 Forces 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.
One of the 4 operational objectives of this Plan 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 which continues to increase in pace with 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.
• 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 had the opportunity to meet with the Reserve Defence Force representative body, RDFRA, recently and we had a very constructive discussion on the continued development of the Reserve. I can assure the Deputy as I assured RDFRA, that one of my key goals as Minister for Defence, is the development of a Reserve Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy on a voluntary basis, with the Permanent Defence Force, both on-island and overseas.