Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 17 Apr 1991

Vol. 407 No. 1

Madeleine Taylor-Quinn

Question:

52 Mrs. Taylor-Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if preparations are under way in his Department to send Irish Army troops to Iraq and Kuwait as part of a United Nations truce supervision operation following the Gulf War.

Written Answers. - UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission.

Patrick McCartan

Question:

67 Mr. McCartan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if any request has been received from the United Nations for Defence Forces officers to act as observers in the aftermath of the Gulf War; if any terms of reference have been received for their duties; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Michael Bell

Question:

69 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give favourable consideration to the deployment of members of the Defence Forces in any post-war situation in the Middle East if requested to do so by the United Nations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Collins)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 52, 67 and 69 together.

A formal request has been received from the UN Secretary General for our participation in a United Nations observer unit to be known as UNIKOM, the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission. Ireland, along with 31 other countries, has been asked to supply military observers. The request to Ireland is for one officer of lieutenant colonel rank and seven of major or captain rank. The Government have given their approval and preparations are under way to send these personnel. Arrangements are in hand for the senior Irish officer to travel to Kuwait City by the end of this week. The other officers are expected to follow as soon as possible thereafter.

The terms of reference of the UNIKOM operation are laid out in Security Council Resolution 687 of 3 April and in the Secretary-General's report of 5 April 1991 on the implementation of Resolution 687. The mandate of the mission will be to monitor a demilitarised zone of approximately 200 kilometres in length, extending ten kilometres inside Iraq and five kilometres inside Kuwait from the Iraq-Kuwait boundary, to deter violations of this boundary and to observe any hostile or potentially hostile action mounted from Iraq or Kuwait. I have placed copies of the complete texts in the Dáil Library.