#DeploymentDecember – According to The Irish Independent, the role of Ireland’s migrant rescue mission in the Mediterranean headed by the Naval Service will be suspended from early December.

The Government believes the rescue mission, undertaken in conjunction with the Italian Coastguard, can be suspended given the likelihood that winter weather and Mediterranean storms will drastically reduce the number of migrant boats being launched.

Defence Minister Simon Coveney has hinted that Ireland will consider ordering a fourth Naval Service patrol ship to waters off Sicily and Libya in early 2016 if formally requested to do so by the EU.

Three Irish ships - LÉ Eithne, LÉ Niamh and LÉ Samuel Beckett - have rescued more than 7,500 migrants since the first navy ship was deployed last May.

LÉ Niamh (recently returned) alone rescued more than 4,100 migrants and recovered 39 bodies.

The Government confirmed plans to bring the LÉ Samuel Beckett back to Ireland without a replacement vessel in early December.

The move came as it emerged Cork and Kerry are set to be asked to accommodate the first 100 Syrian refugees to arrive.

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