Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

There was a proposal that there should be a replacement vessel for Asgard II. This arose as a serious issue in my constituency recently. For clarification, am I correct to understand that the Minister is not actively considering such a proposal at this stage? Is this something the Minister will consider in the context of a sail training programme? The big interest from Waterford is due to the fact that next year the Tall Ships event which will be here next year when we will not have a large sailing vessel participating. Also, the training programme was a very good programme for young people and it is a pity it has been lost. A proposal was also made that we should lease a vessel. What proposals has the Department in this regard?

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