Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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366. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of Naval Service vessels which are operational, and currently able to patrol Irish waters and any plans to put more in operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43421/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Naval Service currently has a fleet of eight Commissioned vessels. Four of the vessels are available for operations, including the three P60 class vessels which conduct patrols on a rotation basis. In addition to the three P60 class vessels, the L.É. Aoibhinn (P71) is also deployed on Maritime Defence and Security Operations (MDSO).

Extensive work is ongoing to oversee a turnaround in the level of operational activity by our Naval Service and to this end, the Defence Forces are developing a Naval Service Regeneration Plan, for my consideration, to include courses of action to increase the numbers of ships at sea.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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367. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the steps his Department is taking to ensure this State has adequate personnel to staff Naval Service ships and adequately patrol Irish waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43422/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The ongoing staffing challenges in the Naval Service are well documented and to address these a wide range of recruitment and retention initiatives have been introduced. These include an increase the maximum recruitment age to 39 for those roles that had a recruitment age below that, and to 50 for Direct Entry Officer specialists; an increase in the mandatory retirement age to 62; a doubling of the Naval Service Patrol Duty allowance after 10 days; the extension of the Naval Service Tax Credit for a further 5 years; the application of the Working Time Directive across the Defence Forces in January 2025, subject to certain exemptions, and the extension of the provision of private secondary healthcare to all members of the Permanent Defence Force. There has also been significant progress on pay with a further increase due on 1 August.

Recruitment is presently ongoing via a wide range of pathways including general service recruitment, re-entry schemes and eight Naval Service specific direct entry competitions. As part of the Naval Service specific recruitment campaign, a Naval Service recruitment advertisement was launched in 2023 and has continued through 2024 and into 2025. The Defence Forces is currently in the early stages of tendering for an advertising campaign targeted at professionals who could fill Direct Entry roles in the Naval Service. The Defence Forces have also partnered with recruitment specialists, CPL, as part of the Naval Service Recruitment Process Outsourcing to develop and support the recruitment function in the Naval Service and to develop a content and marketing plan. Signs in this regard for the year to date are positive with a growth in specialist recruitment.

To support the measures outlined here, Budget 2025 has provided a record allocation of €1.35 billion for the Defence Sector which includes an allocation providing for the recruitment of at least a net additional 400 personnel per annum.

Whilst there are still undoubtedly challenges, significant progress has been made on a number of fronts and the allocation of record levels of expenditure to the Defence sector is illustrative of my intent in this regard.