Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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7. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the occasions in the past five years that a Naval Service ship was delayed from setting out to sail at the scheduled time and date; the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40801/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The Naval Service is the State's principal sea-going agency and is tasked with a variety of defence and other roles. 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 Naval Service is tasked with patrolling all Irish waters from the shoreline to the outer limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone. These patrols are carried out on a regular and frequent basis and are directed to all areas of Irish waters as necessary.

On any given patrol day the Naval Service can carry out a number of taskings on behalf of other State agencies such as the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, An Garda Síochána and the Customs Service of the Revenue Commissioners.

The following table sets out the number of patrol days completed in the past five years and the outputs clearly show a focused and committed Naval Service that is continuing to produce a high level of performance.

The Naval Service has carried out a total of 928 patrol days to end August while there have been 138 scheduled patrol days lost to-date. Scheduled patrol days are impacted by a range of factors including adverse weather conditions, unscheduled maintenance and staffing restrictions.