Irish Naval bosses are heading overseas – in a desperate attempt to solve the service’s staffing crisis, it has emerged.
The Irish Mirror has confirmed that the Naval Service has put out a tender for a company to run a private recruitment scheme – targeting experts in Europe.
News of the international recruitment drive comes as it emerged that two of the service’s six ships are set to be tied up – because there is not enough staff to crew them.
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The service is supposed to have just over 1,000 personnel – but the staffing levels have now dropped below 800 and as more than 100 sailors have left in the last 18 months.
That means that staffing levels are dangerously low – and only four of our ships can be put out to sea, with news that the LE Róisín and LE Niamh are to be tied up in port from later this month.
Sources have told The Mirror that many key engineering and mechanic positions in the service are unfilled – which affects the number of ships that can be put to sea for vital anti- drugs and fisheries patrols.
Sources say many sailors were quitting because they were unhappy with their pay and conditions – and get better deals on the outside.
But now, in an effort to fill the vital gaps, Naval Service bosses are set to engage a specialist recruitment company to go around Europe trying to entice foreigners to join up – and sail the seas for Ireland.
The tender was published earlier this month and asks for companies to come forward to run a parallel recruitment programme – alongside the Defence Forces’ own scheme.
The tender, seen by the Mirror says: “The Irish Naval Service seeks tenders from economic operators for the provision of a specialist maritime recruitment company that would operate alongside current recruitment campaigns focused on recruiting qualified candidates for direct entry vacancies.”
We have established the aim of the tender is to recruit suitably qualified staff in EU countries.
And sources say bosses hope workers will take up the scheme and join the Naval Service for a few years before returning to their own countries.
It’s understood the scheme will not apply to officers as they require more stringent security vetting.
Instead, it will apply to leading seamen and women and petty officers – the Naval Service equivalent of other ranks.
When asked by The Mirror about the tender, a Defence Forces spokeswoman said EU nationals were already eligible to serve.
She added that many naval experts worked globally – and the if the tender was awarded, the successful company would go after them.
She said: It is recognised that marine specialists by the nature of their work are located globally and while our current recruitment campaign is targeted nationally, consideration is being taken to engage with a marine specialist talent acquisition agency with a view to enhancing and supporting our existing direct entry recruitment (PDF enlistment/commissioning) programme globally.
“We are targeting the demographic that meet the terms of enlistment and terms and conditions for the recruitment opportunities linked to this RFT.
Applicants will be assessed for eligibility in line with those requirements.
“EU citizens outside of Ireland qualify for Defence Forces recruitment opportunities in relation to citizenship requirements (below).
“Applicants that are successful in the recruitment process will be considered for enlistment into the Defence Forces.”
But RACO, the body that represents officers in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps, said the plan showed staff simply needed better conditions.
Spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Conor King said: “New innovations in recruitment are welcome, but this latest initiative shows that the organisation has unfortunately exhausted the limited pool of direct entry specialists, which is worrying news.
“The only way we can make the Naval Service, and the wider Defence Forces an employer of choice once more is to tackle the glaring inadequacies in service conditions that exist. For the Navy, this means implementing the health and safety provisions of the Working Time Directive, fixing the inadequate pension arrangements which are a barrier to retention, and increasing the daily rate of patrol duty allowance to incentivise and reward seagoing operations.
“Department of Defence and General Staff know that without these urgent measures, the organisation will continue to decline.”
Meanwhile,. Sinn Fein Defence spokesperson John Brady has expressed concern at the decision to tie up the LE Róisín and the LE Niamh at Navala Service HQ in Haulbowline, Co Cork.
“Today’s revelations that the LE Róisín and the LE Niamh are to be effectively taken out of service, as a direct consequence of the failure of the government to address the crippling recruitment and retention crisis in the Defence Forces, represents a staggering failure for Minister Martin and the government," he said.
“Despite having set themselves a target of recruiting an additional 2,000 members to the Defence Forces, the current strength of the Defence Forces is close to being 1,500 under strength.
“While this is both damning and alarming, it could be avoided if the government took the appropriate measures to address the issues at the heart of the recruitment and retention crisis," he added.
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