A special study of the 15,800-strong Reserve Defence Forces will be undertaken by a joint military-civilian working group. It will look in particular at ways of integrating the FCA and An Slua Muiri with the Permanent Defence Forces, which number 11,500.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, announced the setting up of the working group yesterday. It had been expected for some time and arises out of a recommendation in the Defence Forces Review Implementation Plan last year that the role of the reserve be reviewed.
The review said the future role of the reserve had to be addressed in any effective PDF reorganisation. In the past the reserve has been organised largely on parallel but separate lines to the PDF. Areas to be covered by the study include training, equipment and infrastructure.
The study, which will be the most comprehensive of the reserve forces, will focus on the development of a more effective, efficient and economic reserve, according to Mr Smith.
He paid tribute to the contribution that reservists had made in the past by their voluntary input to the State's defence.