Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 100: To ask the Minister for Defence when a decision will be made as to whether to proceed with efforts to salvage the [i]Asgard II[/i]; if his attention has been drawn to the concerns that the vessel may be further damaged by rough seas and fishing activity in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3654/09]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Defence if the second survey he commissioned on the possibility of raising the [i]Asgard II[/i] has been concluded; if so, his intentions in regard to the vessel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3726/09]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 101 together.

As I indicated to the House previously, the board of Coiste an Asgard decided in early December last to arrange a second underwater survey of Asgard II. Due to factors outside its control, it was not possible to arrange that survey until last week. However, due to adverse weather conditions, the survey could not be completed successfully, apart from taking a sonar picture which appears to show that the vessel is still in an upright position.

A meeting of the board of Coiste an Asgard is taking place this afternoon at which the question of the salvage of Asgard II will be further considered. Arising from that meeting, I expect to get a recommendation from the board within the next day or so as to whether to proceed with a salvage operation. I will then make a decision on the matter immediately

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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I am glad to hear a decision is imminent. However, all the Minister knows at this stage, despite it being indicated in early December that there would be a second inspection of the vessel, is that the vessel is in an upright position. What is his advice on the current state of the vessel, given that it is located in very turbulent waters? Bearing in mind the fact that more damage can be done by gill netters and a maritime notice has been posted by the French authorities which indicates the vessel is there, does the Minister have any evidence gill netters are operating in the area?

What information does the Minister have on the condition of the vessel? Will the decision he will make be a negative one in terms of salvage?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy O'Shea is correct. We did promise last December that there would be a second inspection. However, due to weather conditions, it was not possible to organise it until last week and even when it was organised the weather was so bad the normal type of inspection done in the first instance could not be done. Due to the appalling conditions, all that could be done was to take a sonar photograph.

I have no information that the condition of Asgard II has deteriorated to any significant degree due to it still being down there. I am aware of the situation regarding gill netters and the fact that a notice was posted by the French authorities. There is nothing to indicate any further damage has taken place. As the Deputy knows, the initial survey showed the vessel was in an upright position and this was confirmed by the sonar photograph taken last week.

The board is meeting today and will make recommendations to me having considered the matter thoroughly. I am not bound by its recommendation but I will take it into account seriously when making a final decision. That will happen later this week.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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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.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I have not made a final decision on that yet. The fact is that the Asgard is a very popular institution and it is true that it has been a great ambassador for Ireland. The other side of the story, however, is that the ship does not have any historic significance per se as it is only 30 years old. It is called the Asgard but does not have any connection with the original vessel. We must apply hard logic in making these decisions; one cannot make a decision based on emotion. There are a number of difficulties with the salvage operation: first, one must take into account the cost involved; second, one must also take into account what damage, if any, might be caused to the ship during the salvage operation; and, third, if the ship is salvaged in a fairly undamaged state and it can be repaired, one must carefully examine the cost. We must therefore take all those factors into account.

I did not recommend that a second survey take place. The first survey took place to ascertain the condition of the ship in so far as it could be ascertained. That survey confirmed that the ship was upright and did not appear to have been substantially damaged. The board of the Asgard determined that there should be a second survey, I presume to check if any deterioration had occurred in the meantime. It took a while to organise that. It could not be organised until last week due to poor weather conditions. Divers can only examine the site if weather conditions are favourable. Even when they dived to the vessel they found they could not undertake a proper survey, but just took a sonar photograph. That is in the past, however, and the board of the Asgard is meeting this afternoon and will make a recommendation to me on what it thinks should be done. I will of course take that recommendation into account.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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I take on board much of what the Minister has said. It is a question of where we will go from here. Even if the vessel is raised, its reconstruction will take a long period, so what will the Minister do to provide a temporary replacement training vessel? If it is decided not to salvage the Asgard, what will the Minister do about providing a replacement vessel? I very much hope that the Asgard can be salvaged and I look forward to the decisions that are about to be taken in that regard.

Is there any further information on the cause of this accident? Does the Minister expect that the survey or the eventual raising of the vessel will shed a great deal more light on that?

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy O'Shea has posed three questions. First, no matter what happens we will need a replacement if we are to have a sail training season from May to September-October. On my instructions, the board of the Asgard is actively pursuing the question of a replacement. It has examined a number of possible replacement vessels with a view to leasing one for the season at least. I have asked the board to report back to me at the end of the month on that matter. Therefore it is determined that the sailing season will take place from May to September-October and a replacement vessel will have been identified within a short space of time.

Second, Deputy O'Shea asked what will happen if we decide not to salvage the Asgard. If we do not salvage it, we will have the €3.8 million insurance money which we will use towards the cost of a replacement vessel. That is our intention if we do not salvage the Asgard.

Third, the Deputy will be aware that the relevant authority is investigating the cause of the accident. It is a statutory authority and we do not have any access, but we have the right to ask them what stage they are at. That is the only right we have and as late as a few days ago they told us that they had not yet completed their investigation. That is all I know about that. Of course the Deputy is right in that if the vessel is salvaged, I imagine it will certainly throw light on what happened. It will certainly show the full extent of the damage.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Judging by the tone of the Minister's initial response I am afraid the Asgard is doomed to remain at the bottom of the sea. I certainly hope that is not the case, however, if it is intact as the Minister's survey said it was. Can the Minister indicate how much it will cost to salvage the vessel, as well as the cost of a replacement vessel? I think the latter could be in the region of €9 million to €10 million. If the Minister is looking for a new vessel, the Jeanie Johnston has a proven track record and was built as a training ship. If it comes to that, it would provide an ideal opportunity as the Jeanie Johnston could be used temporarily. In this time of fiscal rectitude, it might be the solution for the future.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I would advise Deputy Deenihan not to take any interpretation from my tone. I am trying to remain neutral in this matter and am awaiting a report from the board. I will communicate with the Deputy as soon as I make a decision.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister should be leading.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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One does not have a dog and bark oneself. We get advice from the board. I can only give a rough estimate of the salvage cost due to the way the system operates. When the salvage operation is commissioned, from the time they start mobilising, one is paying for it. Even if a salvage operation were to take place, our advice is to delay it for a while until the weather improves. There is no point in having the job mobilised and be paying by the day, while the weather prevents the salvage team from working. I have been told that the general figure is in the order of approximately €2 million. The cost of a replacement vessel varies. My advice is that it would not cost in the order of what Deputy Deenihan mentioned.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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The figure was mentioned in some newspaper.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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We will see in due course. I know there are some objections to using the Jeanie Johnston. It has been suggested as a replacement vessel for the next sailing season with a view to using it as a permanent replacement for the Asgard. There have been a number of objections to that, however. I have asked the Department to give that realistic consideration. It may well be that the Jeanie Johnston will be used as a replacement, which would give us an opportunity to evaluate it in the event of not raising the Asgard. That will depend on what other options come to light.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister will need something temporary in the meantime anyway.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Yes. As I said to Deputy O'Shea, we will have something in the meantime, and the Jeanie Johnston is one of those options.