Vol. 408 No. 7
42 Mrs. Taylor-Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether there will be an increased American involvement in European security and defence matters: and if consideration is being given to locating United States army personnel in Ireland.
The Deputy will be aware that the US already have an involvement in European defence matters through its membership of NATO, and in European security matters through its participation in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). The general question of the relationship between transatlantic defence commitments to which some EC member states are party, and a possible role for the Community in defence matters in the future has been raised in the Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union, but discussions in this area have not advanced very far to date. It would not be useful for me to speculate as to their eventual outcome.
There is no proposal in the fora in which Ireland participates for increased US involvement in European security and defence, beyond what it already has.
Indeed, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, signed in November 1990, provides for unprecedented reductions by the countries taking part, in the level of conventional armaments in Europe, and negotiations are continuing, in the CSCE framework, on reductions in the level of troop numbers. In September 1990 the United States announced that 40,000 troops would be withdrawn from Europe over the next 12 months and subsequent indications are that further withdrawals are planned over the next five years.
A small number of US military personnel are assigned to the staff of the American Embassy in Dublin for technical and administrative duties, with the agreement of the Government. No consideration is being given to locating other US military personnel in Ireland.
