The growing manpower crisis in the Defence Forces has left the naval service unable to confirm if it can bring two tied-up ships back into operational service this year.

Navy personnel are to be given an extra €1,270 in their wages next year in the hope it will start to halt the exodus of personnel from the naval service.

Representatives from the independent British Armed Forces' Pay Review Body are finally set to address a conference organised by the Defence Forces officers' representative association, RACO.

A diver rescued by a Naval Service ship after getting into difficulties at the site of the Lusitania wreck was later airlifted to hospital, reportedly suffering from decompression sickness, otherwise known as 'the bends'.

A Defence Forces support group is calling on the Government to give more respect to personnel.

Junior officers in the naval service were regularly ‘acting down’ to fulfill duties normally carried out by ordinary and able seamen due to staff shortages months before two vessels were docked due to staff shortages.

It comes after two decorated former senior Naval Service officers called for Mr Kehoe's resignation over an on-going recruitment and retention crisis in the Defence Forces which has had a knock-on impact on ships going to sea.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence has been urged to visit Naval Service headquarters to investigate for itself how bad manpower levels are.

A former Army private, a rugby international, a martial arts instructor and a one-time IT recruitment consultant are among nine young men who have become the latest additions to the Naval Service officers' ranks.

A record number of sailors are bailing out of the Naval Service and fears have been raised that it will be the worst year on record for departures of highly trained personnel.

The Government has earmarked up to €9m to fund an accommodation block for naval personnel stationed at Haulbowline.

An eyesight-test anomaly which has been blamed for depleted recruitment in the Naval Service Reserve (NSR) still remains in place, despite promises made nearly a year ago to scrap it.

The Naval Service is increasingly taking on more foreign-born recruits, which is a bonus when it comes to dealing with trawlers fishing off the coast that hail from a number of different countries.

A Naval Service Chief Petty Officer has just received an award for saving the life of a drowning man 13 years ago, little knowing back then that he'd go on to prevent thousands more from perishing at sea.

The Naval Service is inviting surviving members of the first crews of its to oldest ships onboard them for a reunion to celebrate the vessels' 30th anniversaries of service.

The organisation representing enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces has said recruitment in the Naval Service has reached a new crisis point and the only way to solve it is with pay increases to retain personnel.

A vessel detained by the Irish Naval Service is making its way to Dingle in Kerry this morning.