I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time.
As Deputies are aware, the Secretary-General of the United Nations has requested the Government to contribute a Battalion of Irish troops to the United Nations Force which is at present being constituted for service in the Congo. The Government have decided to comply with this request and the purpose of this Bill is to enable them to do so. Although they are largely a matter of public knowledge, I think I should perhaps begin with a review of the circumstances in which the Secretary-General's request to the Government came to be made.
After consultation with the leaders of the various national movements in the Congo, the Belgian Government decided earlier this year to grant the Congo its independence. This decision was in line with the far-reaching political developments taking place in Africa under which territories formerly subjected to colonial rule are achieving their freedom and independence and becoming sovereign members of the world community. The new Republic of the Congo became independent on the 1st July of this year and the large number of countries, including Ireland, represented at the independence celebrations in Leopoldville indicated that the new State was being recognised by all leading States of the world, including the Kingdom of Belgium.
Immediately after the achievement of its independence, the Republic of the Congo applied for admission to membership of the United Nations. Its application was considered by the Security Council which unanimously recommended that the Republic of the Congo should be admitted to full membership at the next session of the Assembly.
Unfortunately, as Deputies are aware, the new State found itself confronted, almost from its inception, by serious internal difficulties and disorders, including local mutinies of some of its armed forces on which it relied for the preservation of its domestic peace and stability. These disorders were marked by attacks and outrages on European residents, resulting in loss of life in some cases.
It is unnecessary for me to enlarge upon these incidents, of which Deputies are now well aware. They are, I feel sure, a source of regret and anxiety to all who have the welfare of the new State at heart and who realise the significance of the position of the Congo from the point of view of the African continent as a whole. These incidents gravely disturbed public opinion in Belgium. The Belgian Government found itself impelled to send contingents of paratroops into the new Republic of the Congo to protect the European residents from the attacks to which they were subjected.
Faced with this, the Government of the Congo appealed to the Security Council of the United Nations. The situation was considered as a matter of urgency by the Security Council. Its deliberations resulted in two decisions. In the first place, it called upon the Government of Belgium to withdraw its troops from the State of the Congo. In the second place, it authorised the Secretary-General to take the necessary steps, in consultation with the Government of the Congo, to provide that Government with such military aid and assistance as was deemed necessary until such time as, in the opinion of the Government of the Congo, the national security forces of that country might be able to meet fully the task of preserving internal law and order.
As is well known, the action of the Security Council has only too often in the past been hamstrung by the exercise of the veto. In this case there was no veto. Not all members voted in favour of the resolution, but none voted against it. The resolution represents, therefore, a positive concrete decision by the Security Council of the United Nations. It is in accordance with this decision that the Secretary-General has addressed his request to the Government of Ireland.
I shall now turn from this brief review of the circumstances of the Secretary-General's request to say something about the considerations which the Government of Ireland had in mind in deciding to comply with it. It is a weakness in world organisations that their members often tend to be more conscious of the advantages these organisations seem to afford them than of the obligations which membership of them implies. That was the principal point made by the then Taoiseach when seeking the approval of the Dáil for Ireland's application for membership of the United Nations. The present is a case in which we must bear in mind what our obligations are as a member of a world organisation.
Article 2 (5) of the United Nations Charter obliges all members to "give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the Charter". By Article 25, all members of the Organisation "agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council". Under Article 43, all members undertake to make available to the Security Council armed forces and other facilities necessary for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.
We are naturally anxious that Ireland should honour her obligations in this respect in the spirit as well as in the letter. The Charter provisions are obviously pertinent to the request now addressed to the Government of Ireland by the Secretary-General.
The question naturally arises why the Secretary-General should address his request to Ireland rather than to other members of the United Nations which, from many points of view, might seem better able to contribute to the United Nations force than ourselves. The answer is provided, I believe, by the special position we occupy in relation to world affairs and by the policies we have been able to pursue since we became a member of the United Nations in 1956. We have tried to deal with world problems and issues on their merits and to arrive at fair and impartial conclusions with regard to them, in the light of our obligations under the Charter and of our own national traditions and outlook. In deciding which countries to approach, the Secretary-General must naturally have had regard to the many difficulties in the present situation. I think it is wise to assume that the facts I have just mentioned were foremost in the mind of the Secretary-General when deciding to make his request to us.
It is obvious that, in the situation that exists in the Congo, the national troops constituting the United Nations Force must command the confidence of all the parties immediately concerned. The more they do so, the more successful they are likely to be in achieving their objective. It is a fair assumption that this, more than any other, is the consideration which has determined the composition of the United Nations force and influenced the Secretary-General's decision about whom to invite to participate.
This is a situation in which Ireland has an opportunity of contributing to the maintenance of peace and order under the Charter of the United Nations. The composition of the United Nations Force has yet to be finally determined. Four African states—Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana and Ethiopia—have already contributed contingents, and their troops are already in the Congo. Last week-end the Secretary-General invited five other States, three European—Ireland, Sweden and Yugoslavia—one Latin American—Haiti—and one Asian— Burma—to send troops. Sweden has already agreed. Besides the nine states I have mentioned, at least twenty countries are sending auxiliary services, transport and supplies. In other words the present endeavour is a great co-operative effort of the world community, and we hope it proves a valuaable precedent for the future.
The latest reports from the Congo suggest some improvement in the situation, but the difficulties facing the United Nations Force should not be minimised. The complexity of the local situation will be obvious from the press reports and, though we hope for an early solution, the future is still unpredictable. We all hope that the intervention of the United Nations will achieve its objective and that the Government of the Congo will be able to proceed with the tasks confronting it in conditions of internal peace and order. Deputies will realise that it would not be desirable, if that hope should be destroyed, that Ireland should appear to have failed to play its part.
I should like to make it quite clear that during its service in the Congo the Irish contingent will be under the orders of the Supreme Commander, General von Horn, who has been selected by the Secretary-General, under the authority given him by the Security Council. The contingent will be acting on behalf of the United Nations, subject to orders of the Supreme Commander and not to the orders of the Irish Government. It will be for the Supreme Commander, and not the Irish Government, to determine the day-to-day measures and dispositions necessary to achieve the purpose of the Force.
Members of the Dáil will wish to be clear, I am sure, as to what precisely the purpose of the Force is. As I have said, the situation in the Congo is one of extreme complexity. Apart from the breakdown of the national security forces in that country and the consequent lack of protection for lives and property, internal political dissensions which threaten the territorial integrity of the country have developed between different parts of the Congo. The question naturally arises of the role, if any, the United Nations Force is intended to play in these political difficulties. The answer to this question was made public yesterday in an interim report made by the Secretary-General to the Security Council. I shall quote the three relevant passages of this report. First, "the Force introduced is to be regarded as a temporary security Force present in the Republic of the Congo with the consent of the Government". The second quotation to which I wish to draw the attention of the House is as follows: "Although it may be considered as serving as an arm of the Government for the maintenance of order and protection of life —tasks which naturally belong to the national authorities and which will pass to such authorities as soon as, in the view of the Government, they are sufficiently firmly established—the force is necessarily under the exclusive command of the United Nations, vested in the Secretary-General under the control of the Security Council." The third quotation reads: "The authority granted to the United Nations force cannot be exercised within the Congo either in competition with representatives of the host Government or in co-operation with them in any joint operation. This naturally applies a fortiori to representatives and military units of other Governments than the host Government. Thus, the United Nations operations must be separate and distinct from activities by any national authority. Likewise, it follows from the rule that the United Nations units must not become parties in internal conflicts, that they cannot be used to enforce any specific political solution of pending problems or to influence the political balance decisive to such a solution.
In brief, the purpose of the United Nations Force in the Congo will be to act as an independent entity for the purpose of protecting lives and property wherever they are endangered in consequence of the inability of the Government of the Congo to ensure such protection from its own resources. The rôle of the United Nations Force will be limited to that task. It will have no role to play in any problem of a political nature in the Congo, existing or future.
The sending of Irish troops outside the limits of the State requires legislation by the Dáil. Foreseeing the possibilities that requests, such as the present, might be received, the Government have had legislation for this purpose under consideration for some time. It was proposed to ask the Oireachtas to pass a permanent Bill with a clause requiring approval of the Dáil by Resolution before it could be applied in any specific instance. The urgency of the present request from the Secretary-General has prompted the Government to seek the co-operation of the Dáil in the passage into law, for a limited period of six months, of the special temporary measure now before the House.
The permanent measure the Government has in mind will be introduced before the termination of the six-months period. The purpose of the present measure may be simply stated. Its purpose is to authorise the sending of contingents of the Permanent Defence Force outside the State for duties of a police character on behalf of the United Nations and, secondly, to provide in respect of such members of the Defence Forces as may volunteer for service overseas during the period of its operation the same statutory conditions of service as apply to members of the Defence Forces stationed at home.
I should like to make it clear that the intention is to recruit our contingent from existing members of the Defence Forces on a voluntary basis. Those who may join the Defence Forces during the validity of the present measure would accept the liability to overseas service, subject to the terms of the measure, as part of their conditions of service. We are relying for recruitment of the force on the necessary numbers of volunteers coming forward from the existing ranks of the Defence Forces. I have been informed by the Minister for Defence that the numbers who have already indicated their intention to volunteer is much more than adequate and there is no doubt that, on a volunteer basis, we should be able to provide a force which will do credit to the Army and to the country.
Two years ago we provided a force of 50 officers for service in the United Nations Observation Group in the Lebanon. All the reports I have received speak in the highest terms of the efficiency and the devotion to duty they displayed. Indeed, I might mention, as a matter of interest, that one of these Irish officers, Colonel Justin McCarthy, has just been appointed to replace General von Horn, now in the Congo, as Acting Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation in the Middle East. I have no doubt that the battalion we propose to provide in response to the present request from the Secretary-General will maintain the high standard set by our officers in the Middle East, that it will redound to the credit of the Irish Defence Forces and uphold our reputation as a loyal member of the United Nations.