Big Tom and Defence Forces crisis
Craughwell paid tribute to Big Tom and then called for the Taoiseach to come to the House on the Defence Forces crisis, citing recruitment and retention problems in the Naval Service and Air Corps.
Like my colleague, Senator Mark Daly, I would like to mark the passing of Big Tom. I remember him packing dance halls in Seapoint in Galway when I was a boy, and later on when I was a man he was still packing them. Now I am a grandfather and he was packing them up until fairly recently. That is some achievement and he will be sadly missed by many people in Ireland.
The time has come to bring the Taoiseach to this House to discuss the crisis in the Defence Forces. We can no longer continue to keep our heads buried in the sand or pretend nothing is happening. Critical, highly qualified people are walking out of the Defence Forces on a daily basis. We are finding ourselves struggling. While high-profile missions such as the mission to the Mediterranean and the LÉ Samuel Beckett are laudable and we should be very proud of them, they are at a massive expense. Recently, in the Leader's own county of Cork, the P52 LÉ Niamh sailed with just four able seamen and women on board. It stayed out for a day and had to return.
Comment on this
In respect of recruitment in the Naval Service, at the moment there are fewer than 20 recruits training out of thousands of applicants. What is wrong? Anecdotal evidence suggests that EU and nationally mandated patrols in Irish waters, which are funded through the EU and the taxpayer, are not taking place because there simply are not crews to man the ships.
In the Air Corps, four pilots have recently gone to the private sector. Last week, Etihad Airways was in Dublin recruiting. Any pilot in the Air Corps worth his salt will have applied for a job. Unilateral changes to the apprentice contract in the Air Corps occurred a couple of weeks ago.
Apprentices were forced to sign new contracts that will make them liable for their training costs and for all salary paid to them during their training.
Another issue is the lack of qualified CASA pilots. Recently, we experienced the R116 disaster and there are not enough CASA pilots in the Air Corps. Due to the lack of resources, I understand it will now take five years to train a fixed-wing pilot.
Let us move on to the Army. In Dundalk, 27 Infantry Battalion is currently controlled by just five officers; that is, three captains, one lieutenant and one second lieutenant. That means an availability of just four officers on any given day, as one would always be resting off duty. There has been a 600% increase in the fuel costs in Finner Camp, County Donegal, as soldiers must cross the country to take up barrack duties in Dublin.
The Taoiseach is the Minister for Defence. The problems in the Defences Forces must be addressed and must be addressed now. This is a national crisis. My colleague mentioned the Border a few moments ago. We have no idea what is really going to happen with the Border but if it requires patrolling and manning, we will need the Defence Forces. We do not want to get caught like we were in 1969, without troops on the ground.
This is a serious crisis affecting the State. It is time we had the Taoiseach in here to discuss it, because he is the de facto Minister for Defence. I will not put pressure on the Leader today to get the Taoiseach to appear but I will put pressure on him by the end of the week and I will seek the support of the entire House to have him called before it.