Dinny McGinley
Question:9 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Defence the implications for the Naval Service of the 22% cutback in its budget in the Book of Estimates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29357/03]
Other Questions. - Defence Forces Strength.
Eamon Ryan
Question:16 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Defence his views on the 22% cut in Naval Service spending revealed in the recent Estimates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29503/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 16 together.
The gross Defence Forces Estimate for 2004 is €729 million. My two major priorities for the Department of Defence for 2004 are to maintain the policy of continuous recruitment I introduced in 1998 and to continue the programme of investment in new equipment and infrastructure in the Defence Forces. Next year's allocation will enable me to maintain progress in both these key areas, and I am satisfied that I have been able to maximise the benefits accruing to the Defence Forces.
The provision for the Naval Service in 2004 is €9.284 million. The reduction of 16% in the provision compared with the 2003 provision of €10.996 million is accounted for by a reduction in EU-funded projects in 2004 of €1million and also by the advanced purchasing of fuel stocks in 2003, thereby reducing the requirement in 2004 by €1.1million. I am advised that the provision for 2004 will meet the operational needs of the Naval Service.
In recent years, two new ships have been acquired for the Naval Service: the LE Róisín,commissioned in December 1999, and her sister ship, the LE Niamh, commissioned in September 2001. The total cost of the two state-of-the-art ships was more than €50 million. Both ships have proved to be tremendous assets to the Naval Service in carrying out its various roles.
In addition, new building projects are being carried out at the naval base which include new technical stores and refurbishment of accommodation at an estimated cost of €5 million. I am satisfied that the proposed resources will enable the Naval Service to carry out its roles in an effective and efficient manner.
The Minister stated that two additional ships have been acquired for the Naval Service, bringing the fleet up to eight or nine ships.
Eight.
The Minister said in reply to a question on another day that the proposed full complement of Naval Service staff is 1,144. What is the present strength of the Naval Service and how many of its staff are seagoing personnel? I understand that some employees do not go to sea or are not qualified to do so.
Does the Minister agree that the Naval Service is under certain strains because the demands on the seagoing staff are greater? They used to spend 180 days at sea annually. The figure has now increased to 190 days per annum and there are plans to increase it to 210 days, which will put a huge strain on people away from home for such long periods.
There is an eight ship arrangement. That will obviously be maintained, and the LE Róisín and LE Niamh have enhanced the capacity of the Naval Service considerably. In recent years we had requests from Enterprise Ireland for the Naval Service to participate in programmes and events in Savannah and Hong Kong to help promote business for Ireland. Notwithstanding the extra requirements imposed by these three month trips in 2002 and 2003, the number of sea days was increased, as confirmed to me by the Naval Service.
I am grateful to the Naval Service for work it did for Enterprise Ireland. The service's staff were great ambassadors, and it was good to see them also working in fisheries protection. The other duties they perform have been added to. Their dedication is tremendous.
The position remains that the Naval Service is still short of the 1,144 staff complement. The figure I provided in the House was 1,050 or close to that. We have had a number of competitions for direct entry for electrical artificers and other technical grades. To redress the staff situation, a great deal of preparatory work being carried out, along with the training programmes under way. The Naval Service is operating at full capacity and, while stretched in some technical areas, manages to increase the man days at sea and, at the same time, meet other obligations placed on it.
When Enterprise Ireland requests the Naval Service to participate in foreign trips, does this have an effect on one of the service's main tasks, namely, fisheries protection? In the context of European defence and the inter-operability requirement, will the Naval Service budget cutback mean that there will be less inter-operability? Given the commitments, does the Minister anticipate that the Estimate will have to be increased?
In all areas covered by the Estimates there is great competition for resources, for education, health, the environment and so on. I do not envisage a significant budget increase in the defence area. In recent years we have been able to purchase two new ships at a cost of €44 million. Putting that in a historical context, the last time the State purchased even a second hand ship was in 1984, so this recent period has been important for the Naval Service.
One would normally envisage that work for Enterprise Ireland would cut across the ability of the Naval Service to meet all its fisheries protection commitments. However, because of the reorganisation of the Naval Service and the leadership provided by successive flag officers and other staff, the service has been able to increase the days at sea for fisheries protection, drug interdiction and other activities while also undertaking to have one ship engaged for three months in helping Enterprise Ireland in its quest to attract business to Ireland.
One could have engaged a costly hotel and invited all the top business people for breakfast, evening meals or whatever, and a certain number would have come, yet the number of people who wanted to get on the LE Róisínwhen it visited Savannah was a revelation. It was an incredible attraction in all the cities and was a really worthwhile success at what one might call minimal cost. The additional cost of the Savannah trip was about €12,000. One could have spent far more trying to do business in the normal way by hiring halls and hotels and so on.
It was a tremendous exercise. It was quite special to hear the comments made about the Naval Service personnel and their disposition and skills in meeting and welcoming people. I was able to join them on both trips for short periods. I was very proud of what they did. It is the sort of venture we will continue to examine in the light of that experience. I assure Deputy Gormley, however, that the record shows that, notwithstanding this additional commitment, the man days at sea and the work in fisheries protection were enhanced simultaneously.