Mr. Mark Keane:

There is a crisis of sorts, one we have been predicting for the last number of years. As mentioned by the Chairman, large numbers of highly skilled, motivated and educated people are being headhunted. They have a skill set which enables them to transit into civilian street, in particular the pharma companies in the lower Cork Harbour area where the naval base is located. There are a number of multinational companies situated along the quays.

I will try to address the issues raised. The Naval Service will never be family-friendly but we can put measures in place to deal with that. We can review the patrol patterns, the hours worked and so on. As mentioned earlier by the general secretary, the time spent at sea for an operational unit is in excess of 60 hours per week. Deputy Berry raised the issue of State assets not being able to sail. Our members never prevented any ship from sailing. That was caused by circumstances out of our control. Our members have put their shoulder to the wheel and they have maintained operational tempo during very difficult times in the context of Covid-19 and otherwise. Our people have increased their work output in the sense that they have maintained the frequency of duties and sea days allotted to them by the Department. That needs to be acknowledged. They have also taken on additional roles in regard to Covid-19, to which members of the committee alluded earlier. On the sea service commitment scheme, I agree there is room to manoeuvre. We lose new entrants very quickly in the Naval Service. Within the first 18 months to two years, these people are gone. We have invested time, money and effort in them but we get very little return for it. That is an issue on which we need to focus.

To address the issues, again, it comes down to the three Rs, that is, recruitment, retention and remuneration. We need to pay our people a proper rate of pay for the job they do. It is a haphazard job. Personnel spend long days and weeks away from their families and they endure a lot of hardship at sea, in particular around the Irish coast when they are required to patrol for up to four weeks at a time with very little downtime. The frequency of duties when they return to the naval base also needs to be looked at. As I mentioned in my earlier contribution, accommodation is also an issue. We need to build homes for these people. We to get them off ships and into homes. It is important for their mental well-being that in their downtime and for the purposes of rest and recuperation, R&R, that they have proper, suitable accommodation. We need to make the Naval Service an attractive career for young, motivated and highly skilled people. Unfortunately, currently it is a revolving door in terms of the number of people with this skill set coming in but leaving again quickly.