Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. With regard to Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan's point about the Mediterranean, statistics were provided in the briefing by the Department. It was a good detailed briefing and we appreciate that. In 2016 and 2017 the Irish naval vessels were involved in rescuing 17,509 migrants. Since Operation Sophia, the total number of migrants rescued in October to December 2017 was 613. There is a dramatic reduction.