NAVAL DRUG SURVEILLANCE TO CONTINUE

The Naval Service chief, Commodore John Kavanagh, has denied there are
any proposals to stop drug surveillance off the coast. Commodore
Kavanagh, flag officer commanding the Naval Service, told The Irish
Times the defence wing fully intended to retain this responsibility as
part of its single-agency remit.

The retiring Defence Forces chief of staff, Lieut Gen David Stapleton,
agreed with him on this, and had been "quoted out of context" recently
in relation to the issue, Commodore Kavanagh said.

In a recent newspaper interview, Lieut Gen Stapleton was quoted as
having asked the Government to phase out some Aid to Civil Powers
(ATCP) duties held by the Defence Forces, including Naval Service
involvement in drug patrols. However, Commodore Kavanagh said he was
satisfied this proposal related only to very limited duties held by
the Army, and most ATCP functions would be retained.

Commodore Kavanagh said a review of the 1994 Criminal Justice Act -
under which Naval Service officers are empowered to board vessels
suspected of drug smuggling outside the 12mile territorial limit - has
been under way.

However, there were no plans to stop the Naval Service boarding yachts
at sea. The eight-ship fleet's main work was in fishery protection,
but the mere presence of vessels was a deterrent to drug trafficking,
he said.

The service currently acts on intelligence supplied by the Garda
Siochana and Customs and Excise, but is involved in general
surveillance in Irish waters, he said.

Last year, the fleet was involved in 11 Joint Task Force drug
interdiction operations, along with the Garda and Customs and Excise,
including the arrest of the British-registered trawler, Posidonia,
last November, off the south coast by the LE Ciara with cannabis worth
pounds 15.8 million on board.

However, the service's officers, including former second-in-command,
Capt Peadar McElhinney, say drug traffickers have almost 20 times
greater chance of landing contraband around this coast than anywhere
else in Europe.

Commodore Kavanagh said the numbers leaving the service had also
dropped "significantly" and attributed this to the stability offered
in the aftermath of the White Paper on Defence. Last year, wastage was
running at about 10 a month. "We have less wastage now right across
the board, but we now also have a policy of continuous recruitment
which helps considerably," Commodore Kavanagh said.

"We have the reviews behind us, we have a new organisation in place
with an implementation plan, and a clear-cut funding programme for
ship replacement over the next 15 years. We have never had that
before," he said. The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, is due to attend
a cadets' commissioning this week, and the latest passing out of a
recruit class, Alpha 2000, took place last Friday in
Haulbowline.

The new ship, 'LE Roisin', is performing "very well", and the next
ship is due for delivery in June, 2001. Commodore Kavanagh said he was
confident there would be enough personnel to crew it, as the oldest
vessel, 'LE Deirdre', was being decommissioned. The ship's original
decommissioning date was 2002.

Asked about recent criticism of the service during the dispute over
arrests of Irish tuna vessels, Commodore Kavanagh said there was no
specific order to withdraw or scale down surveillance. "We respond to
policy from the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, and
there was no change in that," he said.