He was describing rescuing migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya to Europe as part of the Irish Naval Service’s migrant rescue operation between 2015 and 2016. In the 18 months before the documentary aired, the crews of five Naval Service vessels deployed to the Mediterranean had rescued 14,000 people. While all Naval Services staff are trained to do basic maintenance, it's the dockyard staff who do the complicated stuff. They also maintain the Naval Service’s small fleet of Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boats (RHIBs), as part of the Fleet Support Group. These are part of what Defence Minister Simon Coveney recently described in the Dáil as the “particular problem” that is the Naval Service.

Source: Irish Examiner December 23, 2020 07:00 UTC