Funds urged for Navy

Some £70 million must be spent on the Naval Service over the next 10 years if the Government is serious about fishery protection, fighting drug trafficking and fighting illegal dumping in Irish waters, the Fine Gael defence spokeswoman, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, said yesterday. Speaking in Cork at the launch of Fine Gael's policy document, A Navy for the New Millennium, Ms Fitzgerald called for an expansion of the Naval Service to provide a coastguard service loosely similar to that provided by the US coastguard.