Vol. 443 No. 9
15 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Defence his views on whether the Navy has adequate resources to deal with the harassment and intimidation of our fishing boats and crews by foreign trawlers; the proposals, if any, he has to supply additional resources to stamp out this practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I would refer the Deputy to my reply on 10 February 1994 to his question on this subject in which I stated that the Naval Service's response to complaints of harassment and aggressive behaviour by fishing vessels is to send a patrol vessel to the area of conflict as soon as possible to examine and report on the situation. The presence of a Naval patrol vessel in an area generally results in fishing vessels behaving in an orderly fashion.
I am satisfied that the Naval Service has sufficient resources to respond to situations of this nature whenever they arise.
