Thomas Gould
Question:87. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the number of times that sailings by the Naval Service have been cancelled due to staffing issues to date in 2023. [29553/23]
View answerTuesday, 20 June 2023
Questions (87)
Written answers
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.
A total of 39 scheduled Naval Service patrol days have been cancelled up to 31 May 2023 due to staffing issues. This figure is inclusive of 12 cancelled planned patrol days for LÉ Róisín before she was placed in operational reserve with effect from 31 January, as a result of previously acknowledged recruitment and retention difficulties in the Naval Service, in particular for specialist positions.
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 has 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.
• 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.
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.