2025-12-16

88. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence for an update on the capacity in the Naval Service, in terms of personnel, specialist personnel and fleet; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72052/25]

We have had a fair bit of discussion in recent weeks in on capital investment, but there is obviously the need for current investment. Our Naval Service has serious challenges because of a lack of specialist staff. Some of that is because of their attractiveness to employers in the private sector. The State invest in training people but then they are lost and not retained. That is holding back the full development of the Naval Service and it is something we need to come to terms with.

I understand from the military authorities that the strength of the Naval Service, as of 31 October 2025, the latest date for which this information is available, stood at 784 personnel out of an establishment of 1,094. While I appreciate that it is not at the establishment figure, this compares favourably to a total strength of 719 at the end of last year. The figures did not decrease last year and they started, thankfully, to increase this year. Challenges in the recruitment and retention of personnel 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 in the maximum recruitment age to 39 for those roles that had a recruitment age below that, and to 50 for direct entry officer specialists and we have seen, thankfully, that have a positive impact; an increase in the mandatory retirement age to 62; a doubling of the Naval Service patrol duty allowance after ten days; the extension of the Naval Service tax credit for a further five years; the application of the working time directive across the Defence Forces in January of this year, subject to certain exemptions; and the extension of the provision of private secondary healthcare to all members of the Permanent Defence Forces. There has also been significant progress on pay, with the most recent increase paid in August of this year with a further pay award due for all personnel in February of next year. Recruitment to the Naval Service is ongoing via a wide range of pathways, including general service recruitment, re-entry schemes and eight Naval Service-specific direct entry competitions. Figures provided by the Defence Forces for the year to date are encouraging. A total of 156 inductions to the Naval Service has been achieved as of 31 October. This represents an increase of 59 more than the total of 97 inductions achieved for all of 2024. In addition, applications for the Naval Service have grown substantially this year with the total number of applications received as of 31 October being 2,591, which is 31% higher than the total received for all of last year. Application numbers for direct entry specialist competitions are positive, and have resulted in growth in specialist recruitment. As of 31 October there have been 19 direct entry inductions into specialist roles in the Naval Service. This is the highest annual total recorded since the commencement of this specific direct entry recruitment for the Naval Service in 2019. I will come back later with further information.

The key question I raise here and my key concern about the Naval Service is to do with specialist personnel. The Naval Service such as it is today requires people with very high skills. Many of them gain these skills within the Naval Service, but we have had the embarrassing situation in the past 12 months that a navy ship was put to sea without a functioning main gun. The reason for that is the Naval Service did not have the specialist staff required, namely, artificers. There are also issues with marine engineering officers, because there is a significant outflow of them. We have seen a situation with the 63rd Naval cadet class where six cadets commenced training but only two were commissioned. There remaining four withdrew before being commissioned, referencing the extended service commitment associated with naval officer training as the primary reason for their departure. This is after considerable investment by the State and therefore, the loss of those personnel. Therefore, we need to be looking at commitment service schemes.

I appreciate that maybe the numbers look small, but this year we had the highest number of direct entry recruitments for specialists in the Naval Service since 2019. While the numbers are smaller, obviously, we are moving in the right direction. There were four direct entries to the Naval Service for electrical engineers, one direct entrant for marine engineering and two direct entries as operational branch officers. We then have Naval Service direct entry for hull artificer and Naval Service direct entry for radio or radar technician. We are starting to see an increase in the number of specialist positions there, but, again, there is more work we need to do. I fully appreciate that. There is a new strategy being worked on looking at the Defence Forces overall. The Defence Forces and the Chief of Staff are working on a strategy that will set out how we will achieve our overall targets and objectives, not just for the Naval Service but also for the overall force. I will work closely with them in the new year to see if we need to do more. A lot has happened in response to challenges that may have been precluding us from increasing our numbers. If there is more that can be done and that we should be doing, I will focus on that. The investment, including the very clear investment in our Naval Service, will, I hope, encourage more people to join the Naval Service.

It is not merely about small numbers - although the numbers are small - it is also about the proportion and the fact that of the cadre six who went into the 63rd naval cadet class, only two were commissioned. Two thirds of that cadre, however small, left early. That is the issue. Specialist numbers within the Naval Service are critically low despite targeted recruitment. Some of that is due to the extensive time required to train personnel in key technical areas. Marine engineering officers are one group I have identified. These groups are currently operating at approximately half strength, resulting in increased workloads, added responsibilities and declining morale. Retaining such expertise - marine engineering officers, artificers and so on - is essential for the effective operation of the Naval Service. A service commitment scheme such as has been recommended by RACO for certain critical roles, such as marine engineering officers, artificers and so on, would represent a tangible step towards stabilising the force. The Minister needs to look at that as a key action.

There are quite a number of different competitions, recruitments and initiatives ongoing, including those specifically for women. They are not necessarily specific to the Naval Service, but it is important that we support and work with the Defence Forces in making sure they are reaching out, whether in our schools or in different industries or sectors, specifically to ensure that we have those specialist positions and that we are reaching out to the areas and the specialist teams where we could maybe identify new recruits. There are different competitions and initiatives happening. I refer, in particular, to the Naval Service-specific competitions at officer rank, including those for operations branch officers, marine engineering officers, electrical engineering officers, engine room artificers, hull artificers, electrical artificers, radar-radio technicians and chefs. A great deal of work has been done. I appreciate that we need to do more, but it is very welcome that the numbers are starting to increase. We need to make sure we continue to focus on increasing them and reaching over the target of 1,000 we have set ourselves.