asked the Minister for the Marine if he will make a statement on the most recent revelations that more than 50 trawlermen have lost their lives in and around the Irish fishing waters due to submarine activity; and whether he has had any negotiations with either the British Government or EC Heads of State in this regard.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Submarine Activity.
18.
Despite much media comment and other statements, only on one occasion was it established that a vessel was sunk in and around Irish waters by a submarine, that is, the Sharelga on 18 April 1982. No lives were lost on that occasion.
Speculation on the involvement of submarines in fishing vessel casualties is fuelled by the apparently unaccountable sinking of many such vessels. Preliminary inquiries into such incidents have shown, however, that fishing vessels may sink for a number of reasons such as, structural defects, human error and unfavourable weather conditions.
Following widespread concern at the danger posed to fishing vessels at sea by submerged submarines the Irish authorities brought the matter to the attention of the International Maritime Organisation which is the London-based United Nations specialised agency responsible for safety at sea. A resolution was as a result passed by the IMO Assembly, and, therefore, accepted by the United Kingdom and European Community maritime states, in November 1987, recommending that a submerged submarine, if information of the presence of a fishing vessel and its gear is available, should, as far as possible keep out of the way of that fishing vessel and any gear connected to it unless the submarine is disabled.
Can the Minister tell the House how he arrived at the conclusion that there was only one incident in which a vessel was sunk? He said that only preliminary inquiries were made arising from this complaint. Will he agree that much more than preliminary inquiries are necessary to establish these kinds of incidents? Is the Minister further aware that the submarines of the states involved in this activity operate secretly? It is extremely difficult to get any admission of guilt, involvement or admissions from any of the countries in question that they were even in the area concerned because this is part of their policy. Will the Minister agree that it is necessary for the Government, in the light of the consistent reports about these serious incidents and the fact that 50 is a conservative figure by those who closely monitor this situation, to look into this matter urgently?
I do not want to venture too far into this water because the Minister for the Marine has no function in regard to submarines. By and large, that is a matter for the Minister for Defence or the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Of course we have a very practical interest in submarine activity in so far as we have responsibility for safety of life at sea and we would obviously be interested in knowing whether any submarine activity could pose a hazard to other shipping. We would be most anxious that all these submarines would adhere to the resolution passed by the IMO Assembly to which I referred and which was accepted by the Government of the United Kingdom and Community maritime states. The resolution recommended that submerged submarines should as far as possible, unless they are disabled, keep out of the way of fishing vessels and any gear connected to them. The Deputy referred to the question of preliminary inquiries. We did carry out a preliminary inquiry into the Sharelga and eventually there was an admission that it was sunk as a result of a submarine towing it backwards for some distance at a speed of four or five knots. As soon as we obtain any information we pursue matters of this kind. The House should know that we were advised at one stage that a submarine which holed a vessel off the north west coast of Ireland had done so when the vessel was beside the pier. This was not realised until the vessel put to sea. Information was passed to a local journalist at the time and of course he assumed that a submarine had done the damage. That is the other side of the coin but the Deputy can be assured that we will do our utmost to pursue this matter with the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Defence.
Mr. McCartan rose.
I am sorry, Deputy, I must bring Question Time to a conclusion for today.