John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There does not appear to be a sense of urgency or crisis within the Defence Forces. When the report was published this time last year, there were 8,468 members of the Defence Forces. As of the end of January, that figure stood at 7,907. The commission report could have been used to instil some sort of confidence that the Government is taking action.

Members of the Defence Forces are voting with their feet; they are leaving in their droves. Some 500 members have left in the 12 months since the publication of the commission's report. The issue with members of the Naval Service has been touched on already. This time last year, there were 867 members of the Naval Service. That figure now stands at 800, which is 294 fewer than the establishment figure. In January alone, 12 sailing days had to be cancelled because of the crisis in the Naval Service. There is no sense of urgency whatever, as I stated already, as regards the high-level action plan, with the Government's implementation targets already being missed.

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