Dr. Margaret Stanley:

It is not direct to my area of work but I agree the issue of people is going to be at the heart of improving how we approach this whole area. Approximately half of the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces from a number of years ago focused on HR issues affecting the Defence Forces, and of course the Naval Service is a part of that. Since the publication of that report, colleagues in my Department have been working very closely with the Defence Forces to develop a wide range of approaches and tools to improve recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces and particularly in the Naval Service. There is a wide range of measures, from changing recruitment ages to tax credits, seagoing allowances to increases in pay, providing private healthcare and so on. From reports I have seen, recruitment in the Naval Service does seem to be improving as a result. In the meantime, there has to be an overall increase in the level of operational activity of the Naval Service in support of overall maritime security, from my perspective. The military authorities are preparing a naval regeneration plan for the Tánaiste, which will look into this area specifically. Again, it is not my direct area. It will be very important, from my perspective and for the national strategy, once it is published, to have a well-resourced Naval Service and wider Defence Forces to be able to support implementation of the strategy itself.