Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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195. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of times the Naval Service planned to send ships to sea in 2018 and 2019 and to date in 2020 but cancelled its plans due to personnel shortages; the number of times ships were sent to sea; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29803/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, 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 primary day-to-day tasking 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.

Scheduled patrol days can be impacted by a range of factors including adverse weather conditions, unscheduled maintenance as well as staffing issues. The table below sets out the number of patrol days completed from 2018 up to the end of September 2020 against the number of scheduled patrol days cancelled.

All 2020 figures are accurate to end of September

Notwithstanding some mechanical and staffing issues being experienced, the Naval Service continues to carry out the roles assigned by Government, including fishery protection, security operations, and support to HSE in the fight against Covid 19.