Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

In view of the fact that the Asgard II is a maritime icon, a national flagship and an ambassador for this country, surely there should have been more urgency on the salvaging of the ship. It is now five months since it sank and we have had two surveys.

The Minister must have been able to act and make up his mind on whether it was salvageable or not after the first survey. How many surveys does he need? In the meantime, we have lost a number of weather windows when a salvage operation could have been carried out.

Does the Minister intend to salvage the Asgard II? Is the intention to draw down the insurance which, I understand, is approximately €3.8 million and leave the Asgard II at the bottom of the sea? This is important. The Minister is responsible for it and can answer these questions. People are wondering, because of the timeline involved, if the intention is to abandon the ship entirely and draw down the insurance.

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