The minister for Defence, Mr Smith, has promised 70 extra recruits for the Naval Service and has said that neither the Naval Service nor the Air Corps has "anything to fear" from the Price Waterhouse consultancy review of both services.
Making the announcement at a commissioning ceremony in Haulbowline yesterday, the Minister also chastised those responsible for "scare-mongering" through the media, and firmly rejected the suggestion that implementation of the review would be deferred until publication of the White Paper on Defence.
The Minister also committed himself to a total strength of 1,144 for the Naval Service, with additional crew for a new ship - being the 10 per cent increase in staffing recommended by the consultants.
The consultants' proposed rank ratio of one officer to 5.9 enlisted personnel would also be accepted, but details on ranks would have to be dealt with by the implementation group, which he has decided to chair himself, the Minister said.
In an address intended to reassure a service suffering from depleting staff and low morale, the Minister urged it to put its "best suit on" and said that "selling itself down" and referring to a "crisis" when there was not one had a negative effect.
All organisations, whether in the public or private sector, must adapt to meet changing times, and if they did not do so, run the risk of being left behind, he said. "I do not want to see the Naval Service or the Air Corps being left behind," he said. The 70 extra recruits came at a time when offers of Naval Service cadetships had been issued to 14 successful candidates in this year's competition, the Minister said.
"This is the highest number of cadetships offered to the Naval Service in recent times, and the cadets are due to report for duty in or around September 21st," this year, he said. Also yesterday, advertisements seeking 17 apprentice posts had been placed. The Minister denied that the service was "in crisis", in spite of the fact that some 11 staff are leaving monthly, and 10 officers left in the past year. The new ship was due next year, a new galley in the base costing £2 million was nearing completion, and he was in the process of finalising a pay deal.
Referring to the Air Corps, he said: "We're losing pilots to alternative industries. But we have to face that reality."
The three naval cadets commissioned yesterday were Cadet Caroline Mooney, Cadet David Barry (both from Cork) and Cadet Brian Sweeney, from Co Offaly.
