Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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1371. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the age of each naval vessel; when they are due to be retired; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45798/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The Naval Service currently operates an eight ship flotilla. The following ships make up the fleet, from oldest to new:

LÉ Eithne – Commissioned 1984

LÉ Ciara– Built in 1984 (Commissioned in 1989)

LÉ Orla– Built in 1985 (Commissioned in 1989)

LÉ Roisin –Commissioned 1999

LÉ Niamh–Commissioned 2001

LÉ Samuel Beckett –Commissioned 2014

LÉ James Joyce–Commissioned 2015

LÉ William Butler Yeats–Commissioned 2016

The most significant investment of recent years by the Defence Organisation has been on the procurement of the new Off-Shore Patrol Vessels for the Naval Service. The third ship in the programme,LÉ William Butler Yeats, was commissioned into service in October 2016. A contract for an additional sister ship was placed with Babcock International, a British company, in June 2016 bringing investment in the new ships programme to over €250 million since 2010. The fourth ship, to be namedLÉ George Bernard Shawis scheduled for delivery in mid-2018.

The acquisition of these modern new vessels, combined with an ongoing maintenance regime for all vessels within the fleet, and the continuous process of refurbishment, refit and repair, will ensure that the operational capabilities of the Naval Service, as the State’s principal seagoing agency, are maintained to the greatest extent.

The normal life of a Naval Service ship is determined by the level of operational activity. It is normal practice in a ship’s life to carry out a mid-life refurbishment programme so as to extend the useful life of a ship to thirty or more years. In this regard, the Defence Organisation has commenced planning for a mid-life refurbishment programme forLÉ Roisinand LÉ Niamh. This structured mid-life refurbishment programme will future proof the vessels, allow for preventative maintenance and address obsolescence of equipment through capitalising on advancements in technology, thus ensuring reliability of the vessels for the next 15 years.

Three ships in the current flotilla are over 30 years old (LÉ Eithne, LÉ Ciara and LÉ Orla). The White Paper provides for the replacement of the current Naval Service flagship LÉ Eithnewith a multi role vessel (MRV) which will be enabled for helicopter operations and will also have a freight carrying capacity. It is the intention to hold a public tender competition in due course to cover the supply of the MRV subject to the availability of funding within the overall Defence capital funding envelope. Future Naval Service capabilities are being planned as part of the White Paper project planning process which will determine the Defence Organisation’s maritime capability requirements. The matter of de-commissioning dates for the older ships is kept under review within the Defence organisation and decisions in that regard will be finalised in due course.