Although extra security measures were put in place more than a year after the event, the tribunal heard that no interim safety measures were adopted for the two women.

Cork TD and Sinn Féin spokesperson on defence, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, said: “We have heard big words from the Government on defence in recent months and in recent years, but the reality is they keep coming up short when it comes to delivery.

Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service Commodore Darragh Kirwan said the nine members of what is the 64th cadet class were being commissioned in a historic year as it’s the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Irish navy.

A commemorative fundraiser will take place at Cork City Hall on Friday highlighting the strife of Irish soldiers who served in the Siege of Jadotville in the Congo in 1961.

More than 500 personnel are living at Collins Barracks in the city and at the navy base in Haulbowline,

There are just two habitable residential units and Cork, with 11 others 'uninhabitable.'

Lieutenant General Seán Clancy from Mitchelstown, will leave the post in June to take up his appointment as chairman of the European Union Military Committee.

Sinn Féin defence spokesperson Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said morale in the Defence Forces is 'appallingly low'. 

According to a Department of Defence spokesperson, the capital budget for 2025 has been increased by €39m to €215m and the 2026 allocation of €220m represented a 25% increase on the allocation for 2024 which was €166m