Fine Gael predicts "free-for-all" drug-smuggling and illegal fishing in Irish waters if four Naval Service patrol ships continue to be tied up while asbestos is removed.
The party's defence spokeswoman, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, said yesterday she intended to raise the issue with the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, in the Dail. The Minister is due to commission the fleet's latest addition, the Roisin, Eireannach (LE) in Haulbowline, Co Cork, on Wednesday.
Four patrol ships - the LE Deirdre, LE Aisling, LE Emer and LE Aoife - have been confined to Haulbowline since asbestos cladding was discovered on the Deirdre last month.
The cladding was subsequently detected on exhaust manifolds in the engine rooms of the other ships, and specialists have been hired to strip it. No completion date has been given for the work, but it is expected that most of the ships will not put to sea again until after Christmas.
PDFORRA, the union representing non-commissioned officers and staff, has asked that a health screening programme be initiated for anyone who was in contact with the asbestos without protective clothing. The Naval Service has said the material is a less harmful type of asbestos, and is confined to a small area on each of the ships.
