Vol. 505 No. 2
91 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 150 of 4 April 1999 the number of technical positions vacated for the period from April 1998 to end March 1999 which have been filled to date; the action, if any, he is taking to ensure that a full complement of technical staff is available in the Naval Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13410/99]
Technical training in the Naval Service is conducted on an ongoing basis and, with the exception of technical officer vacancies which arose in the period in question, the vast majority of the vacancies have been filled internally by promotion.
Vacancies created in the lower ranks consequent on such promotions are currently being filled by a number of ongoing measures including direct entry radar technicians competition – three have taken up positions to date; apprenticeship competition – of a recent intake of 17 apprentices, 15 are currently in training, seven engine room artificers, four electrical artificers, two shipwrights, two radio radar technicians, and transfers – one radio radar technician has transferred from the Air Corps.
With regard to technical officer vacancies, there are proposals under active consideration both for a direct entry marine engineer officer competition and for an internal competition to commission suitably qualified non-commissioned personnel as electrical engineer officers.
