Air and naval staff review stays secret

THE Minister for Defence and the Marine, Mr Barrett, has turned down a request to publish a Government consultancy review which is believed to have recommended improved staffing ratios for the Air Corps and Naval Service.

The Price Waterhouse review, which was delivered to a Government steering committee last Friday, is believed to recommend that some concessions be made on staffing, with a more favourable ratio level for the Air Corps, and at least 100 extra personnel for the Naval Service. The Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) has called for its "immediate publication".

Government sources said yesterday that the report was only a "draft" and a final version still had to be "negotiated" with the Efficiency Audit Group on the Defence Forces. A previous draft had been submitted to the EAG steering group two months ago the sources confirmed.

The Minister had given "no undertaking" to representative organisations to publish this draft, and bad not seen it himself, a spokesman for Mr Barrett said.

Nor had any decision been made on publishing the final report, and there was no obligation on the Efficiency Audit Group to take any or all of its recommendations on board, the spokesman said.

RACO's general secretary, Comdt Brian O'Keeffe, said the report was "meant to be independent" and there should be "no final tweaking".

The staffing recommendation is one of the most sensitive issues in the review, given that any extra personnel for either the Air Corps or Naval Service would have to be drawn from the Army. Government sources said a "liberal approach" would be taken if numbers did not rise "significantly" above the overall recommended figure of 11,500, and this did not necessarily mean that the Army would lose out.

The Air Corps, which is to be part of an extended air/sea rescue network and is currently training with the Garda Siochana in preparation for its new air wing, is optimistic that its request on staffing ratios will be met, although it may lose numbers overall.