Ireland can’t continue to have ships lying idle in Navy bases because we don’t have the manpower to put them out on the water, according to Social Democrats defence spokesperson Gary Gannon.
He was speaking ahead of the publication of the Commission on the Defence Forces report, which will recommend a 300% increase in defence spending.
The report will reportedly warn of a growing risk of Irish land, sea and air space being used by belligerent powers to attack our nearest neighbours.
In addition to the trebling of defence spending, the report calls for an overhaul of command structures and renaming the elite Army Ranger Wing.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Deputy Gannon said an increase in spending is essential – but the 300% increase should not be considered.
“A couple of months ago, as part of the Defence Committee, we went down to Hawlbowline, which is our naval base, and it was just really sad to see the state where our navy was at that particular time
“I think we have six ships at the moment and we only have one that has sea capability because we don’t actually have the staff in terms of manning them.
“We are losing retention of staff and army personnel because of pay, conditions and morale within the force.”
He said there is a genuine debate to be had about the purpose of investing in Irish defence.
“Given what I have seen … I do think we need an increase in our defence budget. Definitely, we need to have our ships being able to go out to sea for a variety of reasons.
“When you think about the role of our navy, there is no chance our navy is going to be going out and confronting Russian ships in the Atlantic, that is never going to be the case, but our navy also looks at the area of smuggling and there is a growing risk from other threats, particularly cyber security.
“We have seen what happened in relation to the attack on our health service in terms of our online risk and I think that really kind of captured for people how at risk we are – not only from land and sea but also cyber-attacks.
“So, we need an increase, but I think there needs to a debate on what that increase should be.”
Ireland’s current defence budget is €1.1bn, meaning the commission is recommended a €2.2bn increase.
“I don’t want to see €2bn going into a security budget but I definitely think we need to increase to some degree because we can’t have ships simply lying in bases because they can’t go out on to the water.”
The report also makes a series of recommendations aimed at encouraging more women and minorities to join the Defence Forces and to improve conditions for serving members.
It notes that the Defence Forces are not capable of conducting a meaningful defence of the State against attack for any sustained period of time.
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