Report on naval and air service today

The Government has said it will publish today the Price Waterhouse review on a £235 million re-equipment and staffing plan for the Naval Service and Air Corps, following discussion of the main recommendations at Cabinet yesterday.

However, the three Ministers affected by the recommendations - Marine, Defence and Finance - will hold a further meeting to discuss some final details, a Government spokesman said last night.

This brought an angry response from the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO), which had been expecting publication yesterday. Cmdt Brian O'Keeffe of RACO called for the immediate release of the review and said the current delays were intolerable and very damaging to morale.

"If the Government was recommending cuts, it would be well able to issue a decision, so why the delay on this?" Cmdt O'Keeffe said last night.

The review, details of which were reported last month in The Irish Times, has recommended an increase in Naval Service staff and a 10 per cent cut in Air Corps personnel, and says neither of the defence wings can continue to function without re-equipment costing £195 million in the next decade for the Naval Service, and £40 million for the Air Corps.

This should include an eighth ship for the Naval Service and four medium-lift helicopters for the Air Corps, it says.

Significantly, the review's call for more efficiency within the two defence wings in relation to non-military services such as fisheries protection and search-and-rescue is already beginning to show results. Boardings of fishing vessels by Naval Service patrols have increased by more than 40 per cent for the first six months of this year to an average of 1.5 per day.

Detentions of vessels for alleged offences have fallen, indicating that the increased surveillance is a deterrent.

Some aspects of the consultants' review, which was presented to the Efficiency Audit Group earlier this year, may be deferred, pending publication of the Government's promised White Paper on Defence. But staffing levels are expected to be implemented within the next few months because of personnel shortages in both services.

The consultants seek an increase in Naval Service staff to 1,144, with additional personnel for the eighth ship depending on final agreement on crew complement. Buying a tug for salvage, diving support and pollution control was also proposed. A cut in Air Corps numbers to 930 should be concentrated on the engineering and maintenance levels, the review says.

An eighth ship is already on order for the Naval Service, at a cost of over £20 million, but the Deirdre will be due for replacement by the time it is delivered. The review also says buying four medium-lift helicopters for the Air Corps will allow it to tender for search-and-rescue functions which are currently contracted out at an annual cost of £4.5 million, with no assets accruing to the State.