Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 340: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of boats boarded by the Navy on suspicion of drug smuggling each year for the past three years. [20965/09]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 341: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of boats boarded by the Navy on suspicion of breaching fishing quotas each year for the past three years. [20966/09]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 340 and 341 together.

Responsibility for the prevention of drug trafficking rests primarily with the Garda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners. However, the White Paper on Defence provides for a security role for the Naval Service to assist and support the civil authorities in this important work. Government measures to improve law enforcement in relation to drugs, including the establishment in 1993 of a Joint Task Force involving the Garda, the Customs Service and the Naval Service, have helped to maximise the effective use of Naval Service resources in combating drug trafficking.

The Naval Service as part of the Joint Task Force, in conjunction with either the Gardaí or the Customs Service or both, was involved in 3 operations to counter drug trafficking during 2006, 5 in 2007 and 5 in 2008.

The Naval Service was involved in the detention of one vessel in 2008 which resulted in the conviction of three individuals on drug smuggling charges.

The main day to day role of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with the State's obligations as a member of the European Union. The Service is tasked with patrolling all Irish waters from the shoreline to the outer limits of the Exclusive Fishery Limit, which covers 132,000 square miles. Boardings of fishing vessels are carried out in order to verify compliance with a wide range of fisheries legislation, and in order to monitor fishing activity. These boardings are not carried out solely for the purpose of identifying breaches in fishing quotas.

The following table sets out details of fishery protection activity by the Naval Service for the past three years.