John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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572. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on a flagrant breach of Irish sovereignty off the coast of County Donegal last weekend, when an Irish trawler (details supplied) was warned to leave a fishing area by a UK Royal Navy frigate. [20155/20]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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574. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the breach of Irish sovereignty off the coast of County Donegal in July 2020 when a trawler (details supplied) was warned to leave a fishing area by a UK Royal Navy frigate. [20207/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 572 and 574 together.

The Government is aware of the report made by an Irish fishing vessel to the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency concerning a UK naval ship conducting an exercise off the North West coast of Donegal.

The location where the UK naval ship was conducting training exercises was not within Ireland’s territorial sea and did not therefore infringe our sovereignty.

In general, is not unusual for naval ships to ask other vessels in the vicinity to move away from an exercise location for safety reasons.

While advance notice of these kinds of training exercises is not a requirement, such advance notice would nonetheless be welcome.