Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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49. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will send a naval vessel to the Mediterranean to replace the LE Samuel Beckett, which returned home on 17 December 2015. [2950/16]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Three Naval Service ships - LE Eithne, LE Niamhand LE Samuel Beckett- rescued 8,631 refugees from the Mediterranean last year. They have been rightly praised by all sides of the House. I reiterate our gratitude to those brave men and women.

While fewer people may be trying to cross the Mediterranean at this time of year, the sea is more dangerous and naval ships are needed on patrol. A total of 113 refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean since 1 January. Is Ireland going to send another ship to the Mediterranean and, if so, when?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The answer is "Yes." If I am the Minister for Defence in a few weeks' time after the election, I intend to put it to the Government that we should send a vessel to the Mediterranean for another rotation. The vessels were on eight or nine-week rotations last year. To be honest, when we decided last May to send a ship, it raised many eyebrows. People wondered whether we had the capacity to do it. The Naval Service was given three weeks in which to prepare the LE Eithneto go to the Mediterranean. During the three rotations, the three ships did a phenomenal job and rescued more than 8,600 people, many of whom would not be alive today were it not for the Naval Service, supported by the Defence Forces as a whole.

As the Minister for Defence, I am proud of the professionalism and compassion of our Defence Forces, be they on peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, Golan or elsewhere. However, last year was a real test for the Naval Service in particular, which had never before been asked to perform a mission that was anything like as complex as this one. Not only did the service perform extraordinarily well, but there is a strong demand for it to return. I expect that we will do so. Obviously, there are knock-on consequences in terms of managing patrolling hours and so on in our own jurisdiction.

I anticipate that, following the election, one of the first decisions of the new Government will be to send one of the Irish vessels back to the Mediterranean to pick up where they left off in December, working on a bilateral basis with Italy.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Minister's reply. There was some expectation that the number travelling across the sea would drop off. Certainly, there has been a drop but people are still in desperate circumstances trying to cross to what they believe to be the safety of Europe. Some European countries are bickering and fighting and some right-wing politicians are stoking up racism and sectarian hatred. One EU country is talking in terms of a public auction of refugees' valuables seized by police, and there are moves by the European Union to seal its borders. One hundred and thirteen people have died in the Mediterranean since January. On Friday alone, 45 people, including 17 children, died after a boat sank near two Greek islands. We have a moral responsibility to go to the region.

We know that between 3,000 and 4,000 people are still arriving daily at Greek islands from Turkey. Has there been a request for assistance from the Greek Government or, in particular, the Italian Government, which we are working alongside in providing naval service support?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I spoke to my counterpart in Italy at the last Council of Ministers meeting, which was before Christmas - in December, I believe, although I stand to be corrected. I asked her very directly about this. We made a decision after the rotation of LE Samuel Beckettthat we would take a break, assess the effectiveness of the mission and determine how we could improve. That was the prudent approach because it was the first time we had ever been involved in such a mission. We went way beyond what we believed we would have to do when we made the commitment in May. I said we should take a break and assess the complexity of what we had been doing so that if we went back, we could do better. The advice was that this was a good time to take a break because the numbers attempting to cross the Mediterranean are certainly lower now than in the spring or summer. That has proven to be the case although it has not stopped the tragedy in terms of the number of people drowning, although many of the drownings have taken place off Greek Islands as opposed to between Libya and Italy. The direct answer to the Deputy's question is that I believe Italy would welcome an Irish vessel to work in partnership with it again. There was no direct request for that but there was certainly an indication that the Italian authorities would like to see that happen and would appreciate it. We intend to follow through on that, as I said.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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The European Union needs to show solidarity with Greece and Italy. They are completely overwhelmed. The statistics I have suggest 35,000 people made the sea crossing from Turkey to Greece this month alone, which represents a 20-fold increase over this time last year. Ireland needs to show solidarity by supporting the rescue missions and relocating refugees fleeing the war zone. The idea of shutting down borders will not stop the problem.

We are looking for leadership. I welcome the fact that this is a priority for the Government, including the Minister. Members right across this House share the view that we need to have a naval presence in the region. It is a question of solidarity and saving lives. The reality of the mission was that it was saving lives. The absence of such a mission will mean more and more people will die.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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It is important to put this into context. Various Deputies have raised these issues, and they are right to raise them. There are much bigger political decisions that need to be made in order to find medium- and long-term solutions to mass migration from north Africa and the Middle East towards what migrants perceive to be the safety of the European Union. That is understandable considering where many of the refugees are coming from.

Approximately 800,000 people, equivalent to almost the entire population of Munster, are waiting on the shores of the Mediterranean to cross from Libya into Europe. The figure is somewhat lower than last year but it is still substantial. The problem is not going away and Europe collectively needs to show more solidarity and place a greater focus on finding solutions to the mass movement of people. We simply cannot accommodate indefinitely all of those who are entering the European Union. We must show solidarity with countries at the coalface of the migration problem, as they are dealing with the trauma, misery and human rights consequences of what is taking place. In the meantime, rescue capacity is required. The Naval Service engaged effectively in rescue operations last year and I would like those operations to continue this year while we seek wider political solutions.