The Minister for Defence has said he is committed to increasing Naval Service numbers follo wing the Government's decision to buy an eighth patrol ship.
Signing the contract for the new £20 million vessel on board the LE Aoife in Dublin yesterday, Mr Smith said he wanted to ensure that crewing levels were adequate to keep a full fleet at sea.
"I have already said this publicly, and it goes without saying now," he said. Staffing levels were under 1,100 and a decision to increase this would be taken in the context of the Price Water house review of the Naval Service and Air Corps. This review would be published, Mr Smith said.
The contract for the new 78metre offshore vessel has been secured by Appledore Shipbuilders Ltd in north Devon, against competition from France, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany. The cost is expected to be more than £20 million when delivered in September 1999.
It is the Naval Service's first new ship since the LE Eithne, the fleet flagship, was commissioned in 1984. The vessel will be capable of a speed of 22 knots with a cruising speed of 15 knots, a range of 6,000 nautical miles and the ability to stay at sea for 21 days continuously. The contract provides for a down-payment of 20 per cent of the cost.
EU support of up to 65 per cent is anticipated, pending the outcome of final negotiations with Brussels. For this reason, the vessel's primary stated role is fisheries protection, but it is expected to be multi-purpose.
Mr Smith said his ambition was to buy more vessels for the Naval Service, which has maintained that it needs 12 ships to fulfil its role in a 132,000 square mile protection area. By the time the new ship arrives, the fleet's oldest craft, Deirdre, will be approaching its decommissioning date. A refurbishment programme costing £1 million for each craft is due to be completed in 1999.
The fleet has one helicopter patrol vessel, four offshore patrol vessels and two coastal patrol vessels. The LE Deirdre was built in the former Verolme Dockyard in Cork in 1972, and was followed by the LE Emer in 1978, the LE Aoife in 1979 and the LE Aisling in 1980. Two inshore patrol vessels, the LE Orla and LE Ciara, were acquired secondhand from the British navy in 1988, four years after the Eithne was commissioned.
Mr Smith said this represented a substantial commitment on the part of the EU and the Government to protecting a valuable natural resource. Ireland had 16 per cent of EU waters to police, he said.
