Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not know whether the Deputy is suggesting that the almost 1,200 people who have been rescued to date should have been brought back to Ireland. If we had to steam for four or five days to come back to Cork Harbour or somewhere else in Ireland, the practicalities of that would mean we could not be effective in the Mediterranean. We are trying to assist in a massive task. Thousands of people are looking to cross the Mediterranean in boats that are not fit to cross the River Liffey, never mind the Mediterranean. They are packed onto those boats with no life jackets or life rafts. In some cases, they do not have enough food, water or fuel. Essentially, we are trying to provide an emergency response capacity that does not solve all problems but solves part of the problem. We are using our expertise and professionalism through the Naval Service to rescue those people and take them on board. They are likely to stay on the LE Eithnefor 12 hours or less, or maybe slightly more if we are steaming to an Italian port, before they are disembarked and looked after appropriately in terms of their medium-term medical needs and their asylum applications, etc.

The legal provisions around that work were explored before we sent the ship to the Mediterranean so that we could do it efficiently.

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