Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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412. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of the 97% of Naval Service missions which his Department claims are unaffected by staff shortages and operational capacity that are Naval Service day patrols; and his views on variance in disruption between day patrols when compared with more substantive operations. [34714/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The 97% referenced by the Deputy relates to the advised position as at 30 September 2020. The following table sets out the number of patrol days completed up to 30 September 2020 against the number of scheduled patrol days cancelled.

As at 30 September:

For completeness please also note the position as at 31 October:

The Deputy will appreciate that the recent fire onboard the LÉ Niamh has had a considerable impact on the number of Patrol Days lost for mechanical reasons in October. In addition, in July 2019, the Naval Service reduced its operational flotilla to six ships, placing two ships on operational pause, while a third ship entered a mid-life re-fit programme. There are 5 operational ships that remain available at present. I expect the LÉ Roisín to come back into operation following her mid-life re-fit early next year. I acknowledge these challenges have an impact on overall planned Patrol Days at present. My focus is on returning the Naval Service to its full capacity.