213 Mr. Harte asked the Minister for the Marine if his attention has been drawn to a statement by the British Minister of Defence that a contract has been awarded to a company to salvage German U-Boats lying on the seabed off Malin Head; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15321/95]

The UK authorities have confirmed that the Minister for Defence has concluded a salvage contract with a UK based company called Anchortape Ltd. The UK authorities have also confirmed that the submarine wrecks which are covered by this particular salvage contract are all outside Irish territorial waters. This particular matter is, therefore, outside the scope of my powers in relation to salvage and wreck. However, I understand that there are a number of wrecked submarines in Irish waters. I would stress that these are not the subject of the salvage contract, however we will be drawing the attention of the UK authorities to the need to comply with the terms of the Merchant Shipping (Salvage and Wreck) Act, 1993 in the event that any salvage operations in relation to these vessels were to be contemplated. I will be keeping the matter under review.