Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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223. To ask the Minister for Defence when the Naval Service will restart its search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean in light of the recorded 2,507 % increase in the numbers of persons crossing to Italy in the past week since the closure of the so-called "Balkan route"; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5299/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Following a Government decision on 12 May 2015, the Irish naval vessel, L.É. Eithne, was deployed to the Mediterranean on 16 May, 2015, to assist the Italian authorities with the migrant crisis. Two further vessels were deployed, L.É. Niamh and L.É. Samuel Beckett, and the deployment was completed on 29 November 2015, with L.É. Samuel Beckett arriving back in Ireland on 17 December 2015. The role of the Irish naval vessel was to provide a search and rescue capability and to undertake humanitarian search and rescue operations at sea in the Mediterranean. Assistance to persons in distress at sea was provided in accordance with the applicable provisions of international conventions governing search and rescue situations. Co-ordination of search and rescue efforts and the provision of humanitarian assistance were achieved through close co-operation with the relevant Italian authorities.

The success of the operations carried out by L.É. Eithne, L.É. Niamh and L.É. Samuel Beckett involving the rescue of 8,592 migrants demonstrates clearly the value of Ireland’s participation in this important humanitarian response.

The question of a further deployment to the operation in the Mediterranean in 2016 is being evaluated and will be considered in the context of the ongoing situation in the Mediterranean and the overall EU response thereto, the demands on the Defence Forces, our overseas commitments and available resources.  Subject to Government approval, it is my intention to deploy a further naval vessel to the Mediterranean in the coming months.