asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there is any basis for the report in the media (details supplied) on 27 September 1984 that there was a proposal to construct fishery protection vessels for five nations but that the Department of Foreign Affairs was not keen to see such ships sold to any non-NATO country; and if he will name the five nations involved.
Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers - Fishery Protection Vessels.
11.
The report to which the Deputy refers is without foundation.
That was a false start.
What was that?
I was answering Question No. 11 which refers to the protection of vessels in the Verolme Dockyard. I said that the report to which the Deputy refers is without foundation.
Question No. 12.
In that regard——
I have moved on to the next question.
With all due respect, these are important matters.
Question Time is being abused. The Deputy was just provoked by some people over here into asking a Supplementary Question. I am surprised at him.
That is a very serious allegation to make against me, that I would permit myself to be provoked into doing something unwise by anybody over there.
I am only human.
(Interruptions.)
The Minister is also a Deputy from Cork. I am sure his attention will have been drawn to, in my view, a very ill-advised statement made by the former chairman or the current chairman of Verolme Dockyard about not accepting orders from the "confraternity of nations" whatever that means. I know about a confraternity in an internal church context. I wonder is the Minister aware what this man meant by a confraternity of nations from whom we should not solicit orders for fishery patrol vessels.
I did not see that comment.
The Minister may have been out of the country at the time.
I saw a statement by a senior manager that it was without foundation to suggest that the Department of Foreign Affairs had influenced him not to seek orders. That is the only statement I saw. I did not see that remark.
Perhaps the Minister would look into it because it is of some significance. It would be a great credit to this country if our design and construction of fishery patrol vessels of this nature were such as to attract international attention. It seemed from some newspaper reports that the chairman of Verolme Dockyard was disinclined to follow up inquiries from what he apparently described as the confraternity of nations, whatever that means.
The design of the vessels was taken by the dockyard to a number of countries with the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs. We tried to interest them in purchasing the vessels but nothing progressed beyond that stage. The design was considered by CTT and by the Department of Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism to be of such quality as to be of interest to a number of countries around the world. Efforts were made to interest them in buying from the dockyard but nothing came of them.