Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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99. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the cost of the Naval Service missions in the Mediterranean Sea each year to date; the number of Defence Forces personnel deployed on the missions per annum; the annual cost of the missions; if the use of Naval Service vessels in Operation Sophia has reduced the availability of the vessels for search and rescue missions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6930/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The additional costs incurred from the deployment of Naval Service vessels to the Mediterranean under Operation Pontus and Operation Sophia comprise the costs of allowances, fuel and other ancillary costs.  Details of these costs and the numbers of Naval Service personnel deployed in the Mediterranean for each of the last three years are set out in the following table.

Irish Naval Service vessels were first deployed in the Mediterranean in May 2015 on Operation Pontus.  Naval vessels deployed again on Operation Pontus in 2016 and 2017.  Following Government and Dáil approval, the L.É. Niamh deployed on 6 October 2017 to join Operation Sophia and returned to Ireland on 20 December 2017.

Operation Pontus was a humanitarian search and rescue mission undertaken as part of a bilateral arrangement with the Italian authorities.  The sole focus of the mission was the rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean.

Operation Sophia is primarily a security operation which specifically seeks to counter human trafficking and smuggling in the Southern Central Mediterranean by taking action against the criminal networks and disrupting the smugglers' business model.  By improving maritime security, Operation Sophia is actively contributing to EU and international efforts for the return of stability in Libya. In addition, Operation Sophia plays an important role in training the Libyan Coastguard. So far, 201 Libyans have been trained by EU Member States and this work is ongoing.

The specific tasks assigned to naval vessels by the Operation Sophia Force Commander depend on the operational requirements in the Mediterranean area at any given time.  In the course of its deployment, the crew of L.É. Niamh were engaged both in security tasks and in responding to Safety of Life at Sea events (search and rescue) in the area of operation.

The UN migration agency (IOM) has reported that the number of migrants arriving in Europe by sea in 2017 was the lowest figure since the crisis began in the Mediterranean.  The number of migrants and refugees entering Europe by sea during 2017 was 171,635, which is less than half (47%) of the 2016 arrivals of 363,504. This reduction is reflected in the amount of Search and Rescue activity conducted by the Naval Service in 2017.  In advance of joining the EU naval mission in October 2017, the Irish Naval vessel, L.É. William Butler Yeats, on its 3 month deployment on Operation Pontus, rescued 701 persons. In the following three month period from October to December 2017, 613 migrants were rescued by an Irish Naval vessel, L.É. Niamh, operating as part of Operation Sophia.

In addition to this international commitment, the Naval Service in 2017 continued to meet national operational requirements which included fishery protection duties, maritime security operations and maritime search and rescue.