Naval Service plan welcomed

A new plan for the Naval Service signed into law by the Minister for Defence last week has been welcomed by the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO).

The plan comes into force more than two years after the PricewaterhouseCooper review, and almost a year after the White Paper on Defence. It increases authorised numbers, and splits the service into two command structures.

The strength of the Naval Service is increased from the current authorised figure of 1,089 to 1,144. A new ship, modelled on the LE Roisin, is due for delivery next June. Ships' patrol time has already increased by 16 per cent, even before the new organisation was approved.

The implementation plan seeks to increase patrol days by 44 per cent over the next five years.

However, the service has still a shortage of bridge watchkeepers, and is running on half of the officially sanctioned figure.

Fishery protection will account for more than 90 per cent of patrol time, while ships will also continue to provide support to the Garda National Drugs Unit, the Customs National Drugs Team, the Irish Coast Guard, and other State agencies.

The Naval Service has made an application to run the new emergency towing vessels which the Government wishes to acquire as an anti-pollution measure.

The Chief-of-Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieut Gen Colm Mangan, has described the plan as "a fundamental restructuring", and heralded it as the beginning of a new period of stability for the seagoing arm.

Comdt Brian O'Keeffe, secretary-general of RACO, said it ended a long "limbo" period for the Naval Service, after a series of reviews dating back over the past decade.