Fisheries surveillance should continue to be carried out by the Naval Service and should not be contracted out to the private sector, the Price Waterhouse review for the Efficiency Audit Group (EAG) on the Defence Forces says.
However, a minimum of eight ships will be needed to meet Department of Marine and Natural Resource requirements, the review says. The current fleet of seven ships should be replaced over a 15-year period at a cost of £195 million, it says. An eighth ship is already on order.
Naval Service numbers should also be increased to about 1,200 - a total strength of 1,144 and an additional crewing complement for the eighth ship, the review recommends. Staffing levels are currently below 1,000 and falling; such is the level of morale within the service that officers have been leaving before retirement to take up more attractive jobs elsewhere, and direct entry applicants to meet a shortage of watchkeepers are being sought from outside the State, with at least one applicant coming from Croatia.
Even with eight ships, and "considerable change to existing practices", the Department of the Marine requirement for 2,500 boardings of fishing vessels annually will be "difficult to achieve", the review admits. Currently, patrol ships are delivering about 1,100 boardings a year, and the consultants believe that this could be increased to between 1,700 and 1,800 over time. The service is also required to carry out drug interdiction, pollution control and search and rescue operations.
The review recommends greater independence from the Army for both the Naval Service and Air Corps, with the Flag Officer and the General Officer Commanding the Air Corps having direct control over, and responsibility for, budgets. It also recommends devolution - with Naval Service headquarters moving from Dublin to the Naval Base at Haulbowline, and the Air Corps headquarters relocating to Baldonnell.
The review identifies some current practices which do not represent "good value for money" in the commercial world, and makes a comparison with the Scottish Fishery Protection Agency, which carries out surveillance on private contract in Scottish waters.
Even allowing for the fact that the SFPA is a single-tasked agency with a much-less demanding policing role, the review says that there are "significant indicators" relating to improved performance which must be achieved "if the Naval Service and the Air Corps wish to remain in the business of servicing the needs of non-military customers".
On crewing levels, the review says that the current Naval Service factor of 1.2 crew per ship should be changed to 1.33. The Representative Association of Commissioned Officers has sought 1.5 crew per ship for a 12ship fleet. The review says a 1.33 crewing ratio should allow for a target of 180 days at sea per ship, but 200 days at sea should be the aim in the medium to longer term. It rejects the Naval Service proposal of 120 days at sea.
Other issues identified in relation to improved efficiency include the number of boardings; the turn-around time for vessels in port; the relationship between "customer" and "service provider"; and patrol patterns and mid-patrol breaks.
Acknowledging the tensions between the shore-bound Department of the Marine and the seabound patrol ships, it says that relationships would be "significantly enhanced" by short-term secondments of navy personnel to the fishery protection area of the Department and vice versa.
The review proposes an outline agreement on fishery protection. It says this should be adopted for all services provided by the Naval Service and Air Corps "in order to establish a robust performance-management regime with clearly specified outputs".
Purchase of a tug for salvage, diving support and pollution control is also considered in the review, but it says that further discussions need to take place on this with the Department of the Marine. The Irish Marine Emergency Service has already made moves to acquire at least one such vessel to meet new international commitments on oil pollution.
The review recommends retention of An Slua Muiri, the Naval Reserve, but refers to its 1994 recommendation that it would be more useful if there was a higher standard of training. It also says that class barriers - that is, between different categories of officers - should be overcome by introducing cross-reporting in the support functions in both services.
