Taoiseach Leo Varadkar appeared to contradict Minister of State Paul Kehoe’s insistence that two Naval Service ships were taken out of service last week for routine maintenance rather than crew shortages. When it was put to him this suggested Mr Kehoe had been inaccurate in the way he described the situation over the weekend, the Taoiseach replied: “I don’t think so. On Monday Mr Kehoe sought to clarify these comments, saying he had not been “let down” by the Taoiseach’s reference to staff shortages. The Irish Times reported at the weekend Mr Kehoe said he had “got a very extensive briefing from the flag officer commanding the Naval Service, Cmdr Mick Malone, this morning and there are no ships currently tied up because of manpower issues. The report in The Irish Times was based on a letter sent by Cmdr Malone to all Naval Service personnel, where he said the LE Eithne and the LE Orla would remain tied up until crew numbers improve.

Source: The Irish Times July 08, 2019 13:30 UTC