Naval Service hit by shortage of chefs, warns PDForra

The general shortage of chefs nationally means the Naval Service is again competing for a very limited skill pool. Picture: David Creedon/Anzenberger

 The Naval Service is short a third of the chefs it's supposed to have and a move to attract them into the force from the private sector hasn't worked, PDForra has warned.

The Naval Service is supposed to have a minimum of 54 chefs, but is short 18 'commis' chefs.

PDForra president Mark Keane, who works as a senior chef at the Naval Service headquarters, said they are currently experiencing "a severe shortage of highly-skilled and experienced chefs within the ranks".

This comes on top of shortages in other specialist roles in the force, such as engine room fitters (ERAs), medics, communications specialists, and officer marine engineers.

A campaign to recruit 'direct entry' chefs from the private sector was launched two years ago.

"Despite the recruitment drive undertaken to fill these chef positions to date no one has enlisted under this scheme," Mr Keane said.

He said the general shortage of chefs nationally means the Naval Service is again competing for a very limited skill pool.

"This skillset is not easily replaced as it takes upwards of four years to fully train chefs within the Defence Forces. 

"As catering in the Defence Forces is a very unique skill, as our members must operate both at home and overseas in some of the most hostile environments, this is very much the case for chefs serving afloat with the Naval Service," he said.

The chefs are not there just to serve food, they're also required to perform numerous other roles while at sea, such as machine gunners and firefighters.

"Naturally enough this shortage places a greater strain on our members (PDForra enlisted personnel) as the workload and frequency of duties undertaken is being done with fewer numbers," Mr Keane said.

"New entrants are the lifeblood of the Naval Service. It's now imperative that measures are taken to address this recruitment and retention difficulties," he said.

The PDForra president said the ways to make such jobs more attractive include increased remuneration, better on-base accommodation, and continuous professional development through courses "if we are to stem the tide of people exiting."

"Two senior chefs have just been discharged on completion of their contracts expiring. In tandem with this, there is a cohort of senior chefs who have reached their maximum pensionable service. This will doubtless add to the worsening situation," Mr Keane said.

"It's said an army marches on its stomach and a navy sails with the same principle. A Naval Service chef also plays a vital role in maintaining morale on board ships while on patrol," Mr Keane added.

A spokesman for the Naval Service said they first advertised for recruitment from the private sector for chefs in June 2019. Since then they've had 131 applications, 76 of which were judged as "automatic fails" as the candidates didn't meet the qualifications or criteria. 

A further eight also withdrew their applications in midstream.

Another 44 applications were rejected on a number of grounds, with the majority not meeting educational standards required by the Naval Service, while a few didn't bother to turn up for interviews and a handful "didn't meet residency criteria."

The spokesman added that they were still hopeful of getting chefs into the Naval Service from the 'Direct Entry' scheme.