Ireland’s Naval Service fleet should be expanded to an "optimum capacity" of nine vessels as part of a radical overhaul for “enhanced capability”, the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces recommends.

The publication of the report was welcomed today (Wednesday 9 February) by Defence Minister Simon Coveney, who said it “poses serious questions that we as a society must carefully consider”.

Among its numerous recommendations, the report advocates for a level of ambition for the future of the Defence Forces that requires “accelerating the upgrade of the naval fleet and operating it to an optimum level through double crewing and greater use of technology” — with an attendant 50% increase in annual defence spending.

An accelerated programme of naval vessel replacement “to ensure a balanced fleet of nine modern ships by early in the next decade” would be required, it adds.

And building on this, a further level of ambition calls for the fleet to expand to 12 ships — “Tier 3-type OPVs” — in order to “provide the Naval Service with maritime capabilities for defending the State from a conventional military attack”.

Currently the Naval Service has a fleet of nine vessels of which only five are operational.

In addition, the report recommends that the Naval Service, along with the Air Corps, should become a service “on a par with the Army, contributing to a joint strategic command at Defence Forces Headquarters and Joint Force Command.

“Given the importance of service parity, the names of [the Air Corps and Naval Service] should change to the Air Force and the Navy respectively,” it says.

A new role of Chief of the Navy would be created, and this person would be "responsible for maintaining an enhanced national Recognised Maritime Picture (RMP) that will monitor Irish territorial waters and Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone, and any infringements on Irish sovereignty would be detected and responded to".

Minister Coveney said the hopes the report “will foster real debate about the defence that we need as a modern European country”, noting that its recommendations “are forthright and challenge the status quo”.

He added that given its “significant recommendations”, a four-month process “to allow for detailed consideration” will now commence, involving consultation across Government departments and input from stakeholders, before he presents a proposed response and “high-level action plan” to the Government.

The release of the report comes in the wake of recent controversy surrounding Russia’s plans to conduct live-fire military drills within the waters of Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

As former Defence Forces chief of staff Mark Mellett told Lorna Siggins on the Wavelengths podcast, the situation poses questions for the EU’s defence strategy as well as Ireland’s policy of neutrality.