My question to the Taoiseach relates to the strength and operational capacity of the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps which have been substantially weakened. It is no wonder that morale is so low within the forces. Listening to the Taoiseach I got the distinct impression that only five vessels in the Naval Service fleet would be operational. Will the Taoiseach clarify the matter? Last Thursday's announcement of the report of the Low Pay Commission had very little in it to help to contain the systemic flow from the Defence Forces. Particularly alarming was the fact that 60% of personnel said they would leave within two years.

There are nine vessels in the fleet, which is more than we had before. We have five new vessels and four were decommissioned. It was never the case that all nine would be operational or at sea at the same time, but I can confirm that six are fully operational, two are in planned maintenance and one is in long-term refit. We will go from six vessels to seven later in the year, but that can only be done if we see an improvement in the number of staff and specialists in the Naval Service. It remains to be seen whether that will be possible. The minimum is six vessels.