Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have just one comment on participation in joint exercises. Over the past months we have seen a number of drug seizures off the coast, which have been valued at more than €100 million. With Ireland's vast coastline extending to more than 3,000 km, it is not practical for officers within the maritime unit to be able to cover all this area. The possible assistance of the EDA to strengthen our coastal security measures on the Irish coast, be it through EU co-operation and participation in both the joint military exercises facilitated by the agency, could improve our interoperability and also ensure that we do not become a back-door smuggling route into the EU given the vast waters we have. There is an issue of constraints around our own patrol ships at sea with just two Naval Service ships and this may be an opportunity that could be explored into the future.

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