Madam, - The Department of Defence Annual Report for 2006 shows that there are no plans to extend the Naval Service flotilla to more than the existing number of eight ships. This is in spite of the fact that the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf recommends that the State could increase its continental shelf off the south-west coast beyond the standard 200-nautical-mile limit.
As it is, the Naval Service is ill-equipped to cover the existing Irish continental shelf area. The Government should therefore strongly endorse past proposals by former Fine Gael MEP John Cushnahan regarding a possible EU coastguard. The recent record cocaine seizure off the south-west coast is an indication that such a level of EU co-operation should be pursued. - Yours, etc,
JOHN KENNEDY, Knocknashee, Goatstown, Dublin 14.