Vol. 489 No. 3
48 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the consultations, if any, he has had with the Naval Service regarding the powers available to it to offer protection to Irish fishing vessels, particularly in view of recent clashes between Irish trawlers and Spanish vessels off the south coast; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8011/98]
I am gravely concerned by recent incidents involving Irish fishing vessels and UK registered vessels in the south west fishing grounds. I have discussed the matter with my colleague the Minister for Defence who shares my concern. We have agreed that our Departments, the Naval Service, and the Air Corps should liaise closely in reviewing the implications and lessons from recent events and in ensuring effective deployment of State resources in incident prevention and response. In that context the powers available to the Naval Service to protect Irish boats will be reviewed.
