Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

23. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of times that planned Naval Service operations did not go ahead in each of the past five years due to low staffing numbers. [5137/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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. These patrols are carried out on a regular and frequent basis and are directed to all areas of Irish waters as necessary.

The table below provides details on Naval Service patrols that were cancelled due to personnel reasons from 2018 up until the end 2022.  

Notwithstanding some challenges being experienced, the Naval Service continues to carry out the roles assigned by Government, including fishery protection and maritime surveillance operations.

The Government have acknowledged the recruitment and retention difficulties in the Naval Service, which present ongoing operational challenges. A number of measures have been implemented to address these difficulties, including:

- The seagoing service commitment scheme, introduced in January 2021.

- Introduction of a sea going naval personnel tax credit in 2020, which has been extended to 2023.

- Increase in the upper recruitment age limit for those recruited as Direct Entry Technicians in 2022.

- Revision of terms and conditions for certain specialists .

- Flexibility in respect of the starting pay for certain Naval Service specialists.

Furthermore, three Naval Service Regeneration priority action Working Groups have been established to make recommendations on:

- A revised Patrol Duty allowance model, 

- Consideration of future overseas missions/tasks/visits for the Naval Service and

- A concentrated recruitment campaign for general service naval recruits and specialist personnel.

In relation to retention, there has been significant progress on pay arising from the Public Service Pay Commission recommendations along with increases from recent pay agreements and the early implementation of some of the recommendations of Commission on the Defence Forces.

In addition to the above measures, a number of proposals have been made more recently which include a mix of pay-related and operational initiatives further aimed at addressing the issue of recruitment and retention. Moreover, the Defence Forces are currently finalising renewed recruitment and retention strategies.

I can assure the Deputy that the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence are engaged in significant efforts across a wide range of initiatives which when taken holistically aim to have the desired effect of addressing the challenges facing the Naval Service.