Written Answers. - Naval Service Vessels.
Frances Fitzgerald
Ceist:
197
Ms Fitzgerald
asked the
Minister for Defence
the sea area in square kilometres or square sea miles over which Ireland has sovereign rights under international law; the State owned sea going resources which are equipped, manned and mandated to police this area; and the reason the question of Ireland's sovereign rights in the waters of our coast has not been addressed in the White Paper on Defence.
[8931/00]
Under international law Ireland has sovereign rights over its territorial sea which comprises some 15,000 square nautical miles.
The Naval Service is the State's principal sea going agency and is tasked with a variety of defence and other roles. It is equipped with a total of eight vessels comprising one helicopter carrying vessel, five offshore patrol vessels and two coastal patrol vessels. The new patrol vessel, theLE Róisín, was commissioned on 15 December 1999 and became operational immediately afterwards. I recently announced the decision to acquire a second new ship similar to the LE Róisín.
The main day to day role of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State's obligations as a member of the European Union. The service is tasked with patrolling all Irish waters from the shoreline to the outer limits of the exclusive economic zone. These patrols are carried out on a regular and frequent basis and are directed to all areas of Irish waters as necessary.
Fishery protection patrols are complemented by assistance provided by the Air Corps in the form of aerial surveillance by the two Casa maritime patrol aircraft.
Fishery protection activity accounts for over 90% of all Naval Service patrol time. However, as the need arises, Naval Service vessels may be deployed to other duties such as search and rescue, aid to the civil power, drug interdiction operations and assistance with pollution control.
The Government has decided, in the context of the White Paper on Defence, that the revised roles of the Defence Forces are to defend the State against armed aggression; this being a contingency, preparations for its implementation will depend on an ongoing Government assessment of the security and defence environment; to aid the civil power – meaning in practice to assist, when requested, the Garda Síochána, who have primary responsibility for law and order, including the protection of the internal security of the State – to participate in multinational peace support, crisis management and humanitarian relief operations in support of the United Nations and under UN mandate, including regional security missions authorised by the UN; to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State's obligations as a member of the EU and to carry out such other duties as may be assigned to them from time to time, e.g. search and rescue, air ambulance service, ministerial air transport service, assistance on the occasion of natural or other disasters, assistance in connection with the maintenance of essential services and assistance in combating oil pollution at sea.
The White Paper on Defence considered the role of the Naval Service. It describes in a comprehensive way the contribution which the Naval Service makes in this regard and gives specific recognition to the unique characteristics which Naval Service vessels carry with them as an expression of State sovereignty and political will at sea and in furthering objectives in the international maritime domain. The White Paper also recognises the significant and primary activity of the Naval Service in implementing European Union fishery policies. Substantial funding was provided by the European Union towards the acquisition of five of the eight Naval Service vessels and for the future the White Paper commits the Government to the maintenance of the number of vessels at this level. The White Paper also sets out proposals for the better utilisation of these assets.
