Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since my appointment I have reviewed the situation. The first priority is to get back to a strength of 9,500. The situation is not good right now in terms of the Naval Service in particular. The numbers are simply too low. We need a radical look at the entire organisation of the Naval Service in the context of recruitment and retention. It is simply not tenable right now in terms of the issues. We have moved on the pay front and substantial progress has been made. The starting pay for a newly qualified three-star private recruited on completion of basic training for possibly 26 weeks and the Naval Service equivalent is currently €36,419. A newly commissioned officer, that is, a school-leaver who applied for cadet training, is now commissioned after 15 to 18 months' cadet training and starts on a salary of €40,316. If officers are already graduates when they join, they start on a salary of €45,000. We can still look at other areas but I feel that it is something to do with the organisation of working time within the Naval Service itself. We have to take modern-day realities into account. We need to stand back and do everything we possibly can to arrest this decline. I do not disagree with the Deputy's basic point.

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