Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, for coming to the House to deal with this important issue, which relates to the progression of a naval base at Dún Laoghaire. The Minister of State will be aware that in recent years Ireland has procured two coastal patrol vessels from the New Zealand navy. These are in the possession of the Irish Naval Service. One of them, the LÉ Aoibhinn, is currently docked in Dún Laoghaire Harbour. I understand that the plan is that they will be used as coastal patrol vessels in the Irish Sea and along the east coast. It seems that the perfect place to base them in those circumstances is Dún Laoghaire Harbour, which is accessible at all points of the tide. This means there is 24-hour access for ships like that in and out of Dún Laoghaire Harbour. It is not a busy commercial harbour, so it is not going to interfere with operations in the way it might in larger, busier harbours like Dublin Port, for example, or some of the other large commercial ports along the east coast. Dún Laoghaire is also close to Dublin, midway along the east coast, so it will be an easy point from which to service the whole of the Irish Sea.

Equally, it is a very important opportunity to take what is a valuable heritage asset for the State and make it useful in serving the State. Dún Laoghaire Harbour is over 200 years old. It is an enormous Victorian harbour with lots of space. Over the past number of years, it has ceased its commercial function in many respects. The Stena Line had served as a link between Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead, but it ceased operations in 2015. Since then, there has been a need for great investment in the harbour. It is primarily a leisure port, but this does not mean it does not have capacity to do that. The old ferry terminal building is vacant. More importantly, there is a pier there which is unused at the moment. It would require a bit of infrastructural investment to make the pier usable by the Naval Service. There is a real opportunity to make Dún Laoghaire Harbour that base.

I do not know if plans have been finalised in this regard. I am asking the Minister of State for an update. I have been in touch with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, which owns and operates Dún Laoghaire Harbour as one of its subsidiaries. I know there has been some discussion, but I am not sure what stage this is at.

From the point of view of the Naval Service in the first instance, this is the perfect match in view of the fact that the harbour is equipped to deal with such vessels such as those in question, particularly in light of its geographic location and the fact that it can facilitate easy access to the Irish Sea for the one or two patrol vessels to do the job they need to do. We know that the Naval Service needs to build up capacity in this regard.

In tandem with this, there is also a real opportunity for Dún Laoghaire, which has in some respects lost its greater function, to be more than just a leisure harbour. It is wonderful at that, as I can attest, but it can do so much more for the Irish State and the community adjacent to it by facilitating the LÉ Aoibhinn and perhaps other vessels in berthing there and in patrolling the Irish Sea.

I absolutely support at least getting to level of ambition 2, referred to in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, and going further. This has to be part of that. I know the Minister of State will agree that there are massive deficits in our lines of defence. One does not have to be gung ho on militarisation to understand that as a militarily non-aligned country, we have to have the capacity to defend ourselves. The function these ships can perform is a defensive one, but it also involves patrolling and carrying out customs, fisheries and drug trafficking enforcement. There is so much work to be done in that regard by the Irish Naval Service. Those in the service have enormous skill sets. We need to work to bulk these up in order to make sure that the service can do the job to which I refer. We also need to provide the service with a base from which its vessels can operate. Dún Laoghaire Harbour seems to be the perfect place to do that. Will the Minister of State provide an update on where the negotiations stand or on whether a decision has been made in respect of this matter?

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