Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I raise the very pressing and worrying issue of Russia's plans to conduct a military exercise in waters off the Irish coast next month. The area is about 130 nautical miles off the coast of Cork and is firmly within Ireland's exclusive economic zone. We can all agree that there is grave concern in both military and political circles in Ireland. I will certainly not pretend to be a military expert on this but I note that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, has told Russia that the exercise is not welcome.We can all agree, given the current escalating situation in the Ukraine, that the timing of these drills is possibly quite provocative. One has to wonder if these drills are part of Russia's mind games with NATO but, unfortunately, for us, it means we get dragged into the row also. It has also been pointed out that these drills will take place in an area with a lot of sub-sea infrastructure running along the southern coast and connecting Europe to North America, beneath the nexus of many of the Internet cables which connect these two continents. If there was to be any damage, accidental or otherwise, to these cables, it would cripple the economies of NATO countries and our economy.

Fishermen in Cork have expressed grave concerns at the environmental damage that would be caused to biodiversity and marine life in the area and have indicated their plans to peacefully protest against these drills. The chief executive officer of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, Mr. Patrick Murphy, has said there is currently 500 million tonnes of blue whiting in the area. Whatever munitions Russia plans on testing there, it will have a detrimental impact on the environment. Many of the warheads will likely contain depleted uranium. Any submarines involved will be using sonar, which can be devastating to larger marine life, particularly whales. We have a responsibility to protect the environment and larger marine life such as dolphins and whales. Seismic activity can have an impact for years. There is one example of a change in the migratory pattern of tuna, which is yet another example of human activity having a long-term impact on nature. War ships engaging in war games off our coast can and will have a devastating impact on the environment and marine life and has the potential to have a devastating and detrimental impact on our economic industry if things go wrong.

It is important we in the Upper House have an opportunity to ask the Minister for Defence what is being done. We need to have an opportunity to have a discussion and to raise concerns around these international affairs. This particular topic is very time sensitive.

I want to again mention the leaving certificate. Time is very much ticking on. There was a meeting of the advisory group and we were informed in a response to a Commencement matter earlier that there is a plan for yet another meeting. However, the time for a decision on this issue needs to be made very soon. It is unfair to string out the students, their families and teachers. We need to a decision fairly quick smart on this.