Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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446. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of days that naval vessels were engaged in patrolling activities annually between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2021. [11458/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Naval Service is the State's principal sea-going agency and is tasked with a variety of defence and other roles. The primary day-to-day tasking of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State's obligations as a member of the European Union. In terms of fishery protection, the Naval Service is tasked with patrolling all Irish waters from the shoreline to the outer limits of the EEZ. The Naval Service also carry out a number of other non-fishery related tasks in tandem with maritime surveillance, and as such any Naval Service patrol should be viewed as a multifaceted activity.

The number of Fishery Patrol and Non-Fishery Patrol days completed from 2016 to 2021 are detailed below:

At any one time the Naval Service can have a number of ships that are on active operations around the Irish EEZ whilst a number of others are undergoing routine resupply, maintenance and down time for ships companies. The high level of non-fisheries patrol days 2016-2018 can largely be attributed to the Naval Service's participation in Operations Pontus and Sophia in the Mediterranean during these years.

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. The LÉ Roisín came back into operation last year following her mid-life re-fit, while the LÉ Niamh has begun her mid-life re-fit following the fire on board in October 2020. The reduction in overall Patrol Days 2020-2021 is mainly due to issues relating to Covid 19 as one of the ships, LÉ Ciara, could not go to sea given its inability, due to its size, to implement safely the necessary Covid 19 'clean ship' precautions. The fire on board the LÉ Niamh also contributed to the reduction in scheduled Patrol Days in 2020. A shortage of suitably qualified and experienced personnel during the period in question was also a factor. I acknowledge these challenges have had an impact on overall planned Patrol Days.

Notwithstanding some mechanical and staffing issues being experienced, the Naval Service continues to carry out the roles assigned by Government, including fishery protection and maritime security operations. My focus is on returning the Naval Service to its full capacity.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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447. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the measures that are in place to ensure that Defence Forces personnel serving on naval vessels during patrol activities are getting sufficient rest and recreation time. [11459/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Defence Forces are currently excluded from the provisions of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 which transposed into Irish Law, the EU Working Time Directive. The Government, however, has committed to amending this Act and bringing both the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána within the scope of its provisions, where appropriate.

Responsibility for preparing an appropriate legislative framework lies with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Officials from my Department are working closely with this Department to progress the regulatory amendment required to remove the blanket exclusion and bring the Defence Forces within the parameters of the Act, whilst having regard to some activities which may require exemption or derogation from the provisions of the Act.

The Working Time Directive, as the Deputy is aware, recognises the unique nature of certain military activities and allows for derogations or exemptions of such activities. A significant amount of work undertaken by civil and military management has determined that a high percentage of the normal everyday work of the Defence Forces is already in compliance and that a range of activities may also qualify for exemption. Legal interpretation of the Directive continues to evolve and recent case law relating to military service is also informing the deliberations of civilian and military management. It is understood that these deliberations are at an advanced stage and will feed into amendments to the legislative framework.

The operational profile of Naval Ships is a security matter and details of operational routines cannot be discussed. That notwithstanding, the Officer Commanding of each ship has the authority and discretion to allocate rest periods to the ship’s crew during operational deployments whilst maintaining operational readiness to respond as required. Ships crews are afforded rest and leave time during self-maintenance periods at the Naval Base whilst the ship is not operationally deployed.

I can assure the Deputy that the health and safety of personnel in the Defence Forces remains a priority for myself and the Chief of Staff and we remain fully committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Working Time Directive are applied throughout the Defence Forces.