Drug-smugglers have more than 20 times a greater chance of reaching the lucrative European market via the Irish maritime corridor, according to a Naval Service submission on the Government's White Paper on Defence.
Not only is Ireland ignoring international obligations to protect Europe's second-largest sea area, but it is virtually surrendering sovereignty over a marine resource worth £30 billion annually, according to the submission. Fraud among commercial fishing fleets in Irish waters is running at "hundreds of million of pounds".
The submission, to be published at the annual conference of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) in Galway tomorrow, says maritime policing is ignored by all four relevant Departments.
Surprisingly, the sea policing dimension receives no mention in the strategy statements published by the Departments of Defence, Justice, Marine and Natural Resources and Environment. It also notes that the service has been subject to four reviews since 1989, "all of which have been effectively shelved".
Ireland's expenditure on maritime policing is the lowest in Europe, at approximately 0.1 per cent of GDP, compared to a western European average of 0.4 per cent of GDP, it says.
Belgium has a marine designated area 200 times smaller than Ireland's, but is committed to spending four times more on its naval service.
This put the value that we as an island nation placed on our maritime protection in perspective, the RACO naval committee adds.
The seven-ship Naval Service is not empowered at present to implement many new pieces of international legislation to which Ireland is bound, including conventions on pollution and dumping, safety of life at sea and protection of mineral resources, the submission continues.
Over 90 per cent of this island's territory lies under water, and recent estimates place a market value of £2 billion annually for fish caught and £30 billion annually for the ecological value of the marine designated area overall. It says the maritime areas of responsibility are such that policing today is equivalent to two Garda patrol cars for the whole island, compared with a European average of more than 20.
Referring to the drugs threat, the submission says "all international indicators and police-based intelligence suggest that the coast of Ireland is a major trans-shipment area for importation".
During the trial over the seizure of £20 million worth of cannabis from the yacht Brime, the defence had said that the level of maritime patrolling off the Belgian, British and French coasts made it unsafe to traffic narcotics there.
On anti-pollution responsibilities, the submission notes that the State does not have sufficient specialist capability for search and recovery, salvage, pollution control and hydrographic surveys. "With no State-owned ocean-going tug capacity, it is inevitable that Ireland will pay the price of a serious tanker incident," similar to the grounding of the Sea Empress off Milford Haven.
The RACO naval committee proposes a phased plan of fleet expansion between the years 2000 and 2015, complemented by sufficient additional trained personnel. By 2010 the fleet should comprise eight high-endurance patrol vessels, four medium-endurance patrol vessels, eight low-endurance vessels, two special craft for towing, pollution control and diving support, and one sail training ship. By 2015 the fleet should be fully equipped for a naval/ coastguard role, it says.
