Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am a little surprised that people are going to the Deputy with this information when, if I had the information, we could fix it. I will find out if this is the case, but I have not been told of any problem with three out of the four naval launches. The real issue is getting reservists onto ships for patrol hours offshore to give them experience so that, if and when they are needed, they have the necessary experience on ships to support our Naval Service, fit in with a crew and train with them seamlessly. With respect, I do not think they will get those days on launches. We have had some particular and unusual problems with having to take ships out of use for a period to undertake work on them, but that is now done and we have our full complement of ships again, so I expect the numbers to improve significantly. I will, however, check the launch issue.

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