Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have seen the Naval Service do some excellent work, considering the resources available to it. The service needs to be commended on the work it does. I was told recently by a person on the ground that a ship left port without the required manning levels and health and safety measures in place. I do not want to say who told me this but they firmly believed the ship should not have left port. Manning levels on ships are a critical issue now. This is coming from somebody on the ground. We have a crisis in the Naval Service. I acknowledge that some work has been done but we are nowhere near where we need to be. I welcome the €300 million being spent on the purchase of a new ship but we cannot man the ships we have at present. We are spending hundreds of millions of euro on new ships but do not have the naval personnel. This is a crisis and it needs to be dealt with as such.

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