Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 4 Dec 1996

Vol. 472 No. 4

Multinational Force for Eastern Zaire: Motion.

Minister for Defence (Mr. Barrett)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann approves the despatch, pursuant to section 2 of the Defence (Amendment) (No.2) Act, 1960, as applied by the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, of a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force for service outside the State to participate in the temporary multinational force established for humanitarian purposes in regard to the situation in Eastern Zaire by United Nations Security Council Resolution Number 1080 of 15th November, 1996.

In commending this motion to the House I will outline why the Government decided to respond positively to the invitation from the United Nations to participate in the multinational force. I know the House has been following the crisis in eastern Zaire with deep concern, as demonstrated by the debate on the matter here last Wednesday. As the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs said in that debate, we cannot doubt the continuing serious nature of the position in eastern Zaire and the Great Lakes region generally. While the voluntary return to Rwanda of up to 600,000 refugees in recent weeks has been a positive development, enormous problems remain to be addressed. The challenge for the Rwandan Government and society of absorbing returnees on the current scale is truly daunting. The plight of large numbers of refugees and displaced people in eastern Zaire remains a major source of concern to the international community. As Members are aware, Tanzania has also been carrying a heavy burden in hosting up to 500,000 refugees and has received thousands more in recent weeks. Meanwhile the position in Burundi continues to give rise to concern.

Primacy in the response of the international community to the crisis in eastern Zaire rests with the United Nations. The House will be aware that a number of Security Council resolutions on the matter have been introduced, the most recent of which, Resolution 1080 of 15 November, sanctioned the "establishment for humanitarian purposes of a temporary multinational force to facilitate the immediate return of humanitarian organisations and the effective delivery by civilian relief organisations of humanitarian aid to alleviate the immediate suffering of displaced persons, refugees and civilians at risk in eastern Zaire, and to facilitate the voluntary, orderly repatriation of refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as well as the voluntary return of displaced persons". The House will be aware that Canada has agreed to take the lead in putting together the multinational force. It is this force to which the motion before the House refers.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs briefed the House last week on the efforts of the EU, under the Irish Presidency, to support the efforts of the UN in the provision of humanitarian assistance to those in need. In addition to humanitarian assistance, the Union has also recognised that there are fundamental political issues at the core of the problem and that a humanitarian response alone will not be sufficient to bring about a lasting solution. Those are the twin realities that need to be addressed in the search for such a lasting solution.

At political level, efforts are continuing to broker a dialogue between Zaire and Rwanda. The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General, Ambassador Chretien, and the EU Special Envoy, Mr. Ajello, among others, are playing important roles in this regard. It remains the strong view of the European Union that the complex problems at issue can be resolved only by dialogue. In regard to the longer term perspective, it is essential that a comprehensive approach is developed to address the many problems involved. In 1994 a humanitarian solution alone was not enough and I believe that lesson has been well learnt. There is a strong dynamic now in favour of a broader approach and the current crisis provides a new context within which that dynamic can be given expression. That is why the European Union supports the concept of the international conference on peace, security and development under the aegis of the UN and the OAU. We believe the process begun by the Heads of State of the region in regard to Burundi, with Julius Nyerere in the role of mediator, could serve as a bridge into such a conference. The holding of such a conference will be one of the priorities of the EU in the period ahead.

While acknowledging the need for longer-term political solutions, our immediate concern in regard to this motion is the pressing humanitarian position on the ground in the Great Lakes region. The Secretary General of the United Nations reported to the Security Council last Friday on the position as he assessed it at that time. His report is valuable as an authoritative update on the overall state of play and I will arrange to have it placed in the Dáil Library. I will outline some of the key points contained in that report, as it has an important bearing on the scale of the humanitarian problem which a multinational force would be required to address. Since 15 November 1996 an estimated 500,000 Rwandans have returned to Rwanda from camps in eastern Zaire. According to earlier estimates of the UNHCR, more than 700,000 refugees remained in eastern Zaire, but more recent estimates put the number between 300,000 and 700,000. Reports indicate that there are groups of people in several large new concentrations, including at locations south of Uvira, south west of Bukavu, north west of Bukavu, between Bukavu and Goma and north west of Goma. While it is assumed the majority of those persons are from the refugee camps, there are likely to be displaced Zaireans among them and significant numbers of displaced Zaireans elsewhere. Thus far 36,000 Burundian refugees have returned to their country from the Uvira region of Zaire. There have been considerable new influxes from eastern Zaire into Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. They include mostly Zairean nationals but also Rwandan and Burundian refugees. The United Republic of Tanzania continues to host 535,000 Rwandan refugees and has faced an additional influx of 49,000 refugees from Burundi since 1 November.

That is the broad background against which the decision to establish a multinational force to assist in the humanitarian effort must be assessed. As the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs indicated in the House last week, the Government has already made a decision in principle, subject to the approval of the House, that Ireland should participate in the multinational force called for under UN Resolution 1080. Together with the other countries concerned, we have engaged in discussions with the lead country, Canada, to assess the precise needs of the humanitarian situation and the type of deployment that will be required from Ireland.

Members will be aware that since the passing of Resolution 1080 on 15 November, the context in which the force was to be established was greatly altered by the massive voluntary return of refugees to Rwanda from Zaire. Accordingly, intensive consultations have been taking place between the countries proposing to contribute troops to evaluate the role of such a force in the new circumstances. Members will also be aware that questions have been raised about the need for the force in view of the new circumstances. Others, however, argue that since hundreds of thousands remain unaccounted for in eastern Zaire, the need for the force is as great as ever.

The Government's position throughout this debate has been one of prudence, allied to the need for an urgent response to the humanitarian position. It would be unreal not to acknowledge that the massive return of refugees has considerably altered the context of the proposed mission. However, there are enough authoritative voices indicating that serious problems remain for large numbers of people in Zaire. Fighting continues on the ground in the Kivu region. Humanitarian agencies, including Irish NGOs, have reported gunfire during operations by them into eastern Zaire to assist refugees. It is undesirable that aid workers should have to operate unprotected in such conditions of danger and uncertainty.

The report of the UN Secretary General to the Security Council, dated 29 November, states:

Humanitarian agencies are currently permitted only a very limited access to the areas of displacement in eastern Zaire. This denies them a basis for detailed programming. Nor, given the security situation in the area, can any detailed assessments be undertaken at this time. At the same time, the plight of the affected population does not permit further delay in the mobilisation of funds and the deployment of assistance. This must be provided through the most suitable expeditious routes of access. The great majority of the humanitarian agencies believe that these conditions can be fulfilled only if the multinational force is deployed in a way that will ensure them the access they need and provide the necessary security for the transportation and distribution of relief supplies.

In outlining the Secretary General's assessment of the position, the report states:

... the immediate concern of the Secretary General is the fact that hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are still facing hunger, disease and violent death, most of them scattered in inaccessible and inhospitable areas of eastern Zaire beyond the reach of those who can bring them help. Neither the United Nations system nor the non-governmental organisation community has the capacity in such conditions to secure access to the refugees and displaced persons and to deliver them the relief they need with the necessary speed. That is why the Secretary General believes that a practical way to avoid a humanitarian disaster is the establishment of some form of military presence in the region.

Against that background, it is the judgment of the Government that planning for the deployment of the multinational force should proceed as a matter of urgency. As indicated, over the period since the passage of Resolution 1080 on 15 November we have been attending an intensive series of meetings of potential troop-contributing countries hosted by Canada. Through this process of consultation a phased, progressive and flexible plan for the deployment of the force has been worked out and agreed by the participating countries. Under that plan, the force's role will evolve to match the changing circumstances and its deployment will proceed on a step by step basis in the context of the overall objective of facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the orderly, voluntary repatriation of refugees and displaced persons. The first phase of that plan has already been in place for some time. It involved, with the deployment of a small planning staff, assisting the current efforts to provide humanitarian relief and voluntary repatriation as well as assisting in the task of ascertaining the location and condition of remaining refugees and displaced persons in eastern Zaire.

The second phase of the plan was agreed at a meeting of troop-contributing countries in Ottawa last Friday. It involved the establishment of the force's headquarters in Kampala, Uganda, in the coming days. The primary mission of the headquarters will be to direct and co-ordinate ongoing and future activities involved to facilitate humanitarian assistance and voluntary repatriation. The headquarters will liaise closely with the UN humanitarian co-ordinator, who is based in the region and responsible for the coordination of international humanitarian relief. Decisions on further phases of the plan including, for instance, the conveying of humanitarian assistance in eastern Zaire by air lifts or ground convoys, remain to be taken. The establishment of the headquarters in Kampala should considerably enhance the planning and information-gathering for such options.

Political oversight of the force will rest with a steering group in close consultation with the UN Secretary General. This steering group, formally established by Canada at last Friday's meeting in Ottawa, will have 14 members, two of whom will be in an ex officio capacity. The group will comprise Canada, Belgium, Cameroon, ex officio as chairman of the Organisation of African Unity, France, Japan, Senegal, South Africa, Italy, Ireland, ex officio as EU Presidency, Spain, the UK, the US, Uganda and Sweden. The steering group was chosen for the most part on the basis of the size of the proposed contribution of the particular country to the force. The group will have a decisive say in regard to any proposal to move from one stage of the phased plan to the next. The group is expected to meet mostly in New York with participation likely to be by the permanent representatives to the United Nations. The New York location will also facilitate close liaison with the UN.

In regard to the precise composition of the force, the Canadian Government circulated a detailed series of questions to potential troop-contributing countries last week. Ireland responded promptly making it clear in doing so that our proposed participation in the force was subject to Dáil approval. I will outline to the House the elements set out in our offer. They are as follows: for the force headquarters, a number of staff officers and non-commissioned officers; radio operators to assist in the communications centre of the HQ; military police and a small number of experienced officers who could provide liaison with NGOs and local authorities. These officers have experience of having served previously in Rwanda with NGOs. Should ground development in eastern Zaire be decided on we have offered additional elements, an engineering component and a transport platoon.

Depending on the elements the Canadian Government wishes to take up, in the light of requirements, from our offer, Ireland could be contributing a contingent of 100 plus troops to the multinational force. Ireland's contribution will be primarily oriented to the logistical support side of the multinational force.

I wish to make the following additional points about the force and our proposed contribution to it. Canada is currently evaluating the offers of the various countries wishing to participate in the force. In our case it is doing so in direct consultation with our Defence Forces on a daily basis. Canada has not yet decided which offers it will require to set up the headquarters in Kampala. For this reason, and in view of the relatively large number of countries proposing to contribute, we cannot say the precise level or nature of the Irish involvement in the headquarters element in Kampala.

Ireland will have to finance its participation in the force from its own resources. The United Nations has established a trust fund to assist participation in the force of African countries. Ireland proposes to contribute £250,000 to that fund. The force commander will be General Maurice Baril of Canada.

The establishment of the force falls under Chapter Seven of the Charter of the United Nations. Draft rules of engagement for the force are currently being elaborated by Canada, in conjunction with potential troop-contributing countries. They have not yet been finalised. For our part, it goes without saying that the safety of our troops will be a major consideration in determining the details of our participation in the force.

The ultimate size of the force has not yet been determined. Canada envisages that for the current level of the operation the troop requirement will be of the order of 2,000. The future size will depend on the way in which the deployment plan evolves, in accordance with needs, over the coming period. Accordingly, Irish Defence Forces deployment will also depend on the operational option decided as the planning for the force is developed and depending on the situation.

Deployment of those elements of the Irish offer required by Canada will take place as quickly as possible. The first elements of the force headquarters are being put in place in Kampala this week. In determining the speed with which Ireland can deploy its contingent, issues such as transportation of heavy equipment, if required, will be factors. Irish participation in the force will be reviewed after six months or earlier if the objectives of the operation have been fulfilled in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 1080 of 1996.

UN Security Council Resolution 1080 indicates that the operation will terminate on 31 March 1997, unless the Council, on the basis of a report of the Secretary General, determines that the objectives of the operation have been fulfilled earlier. Resolution 1080 envisages the establishment of a follow-on operation which would succeed the multinational force and the Security Council has requested the Secretary General to submit for its consideration, no later than 1 January 1997, a report containing his recommendations regarding the possible concept, mandate, structure, size and duration of such an operation.

That is the overall background to the proposed participation by Ireland in the multinational force. The Government believes that we have the support of the people in offering the deployment of our troops in this force. Our Defence Forces have a long and proud record of service in peacekeeping around the world. Our troops look forward to playing their full part in Africa with the Irish NGOs who are already performing such excellent work, in the task of bringing humanitarian assistance to those in need as a result of this crisis and to helping with the voluntary repatriation process. The step by step flexible approach proposed for the force by Canada is a sensible and prudent one which balances the humanitarian needs of the situation with the safety of the participating troops. We are all aware of the volatile nature of the situation in eastern Zaire. It is right that the planning for the deployment of troops from the international community in that situation should be done on an extremely thorough and careful basis, which inevitably is taking time. Our troops deserve no less.

I strongly commend the motion to the House.

Mr. R. Burke

I warmly welcome the motion before us. We have a proud record of participation in UN humanitarian and peacekeeping missions throughout the world. Ironically, in 1996, 35 years after the first force went to the Congo, we are sending our people back to that region.

That confirms the role a small neutral country can play in humanitarian aid efforts and there is a high level of acceptance of our troops and gardaí when they participate in UN missions. I note the offer made by the Government to the Canadians of logistical and headquarters support as well as an engineering component and transport platoon. I look forward to the Canadians taking up this offer soon. I also support financing our participation from our own resources. It is the least we can do in this crisis. We have contributed £250,000 to the trust fund to assist participation by African countries and it is very important that African countries participate on the African continent.

The safety of our forces within the constraints of the job they are requested to do must also be of paramount concern. Unfortunately, we have had tragedies over the years but that is part of participation in these missions. It is a risk recognised by our gardaí and military personnel. Despite that risk they are prepared to take on the task, as are our NGOs. We must do everything possible to provide for the safety of our personnel and NGOs. The Minister should ensure that when our military authorities negotiate with the Canadians this is as safe an operation as possible for all troops.

The central African states have been calling for the establishment of a neutral force to protect the vulnerable population of the Great Lakes region since 5 November. The establishment of a temporary multinational force for humanitarian purposes in eastern Zaire was eventually sanctioned by the UN Security Council Resolution No. 1080 on 15 November. It is no surprise that the long awaited motion approving the dispatch of a contingent of the permanent defence force to eastern Zaire has finally reached the House for discussion days before the Dublin Summit of the EU.

This Government must, at all costs, appear to lead the EU in its response to the crisis in the Great Lakes region. The Government must appear proactive, decisive and unselfish and appear to act on the concern for the people of the Great Lakes it has often expressed. "Leadership, action, decision-making, concern". A thin veneer of words have been used to disguise the inertia of the Irish Presidency and the EU at a time of great human need. For the past five months the Government has been uniquely placed to influence events on a global level. The Rainbow Coalition has failed to live up to its responsibilities as President of the EU. There is no crock of gold at the end of this rainbow but a crock of a different nature. The Tánaiste's statement on the Great Lakes region last Wednesday documented a series of meetings and meetings about meetings. The Tánaiste spoke of what he called the "twin realities" of the central African crisis. The shameful truth is, the Tánaiste as President of the EU Council, has done nothing, and is not doing anything to alleviate the plight of the central African peoples. Those are the twin realities of the central African crisis.

In the same statement, the Tánaiste offered congratulations to the Canadian Government for relieving him of the burden of responsbility which accompanies the title of President of the EU Council. In a great show of magnanimity, the Tánaiste warmly thanked the Canadians for seizing the initiative and agreeing to take the lead in putting together a multinational force for deployment in the Great Lakes region. So much for the Irish Presidency and Irish leadership.

As EU President, Ireland has failed completely to exercise its duty to provide leadership to EU member states. The response of the EU to the crisis in the Great Lakes region has amounted to little more than diplomatic noise. Ireland, the EU and the UN have pursued an "ostrich" policy. With our heads buried deep in the sand, we have expressed our concern and done nothing. We are now offered the opportunity to redeem ourselves through action. However, the deployment of a multinational force of the type sanctioned by UN Resolution No. 1080 is inadequate to tackle the new dynamic of the Great Lakes crisis.

Resolution No. 1080 sanctioned: "the establishment for humanitarian purposes of a temporary multinational force to facilitate the immediate return of humanitarian organisations and the effective delivery by civilian relief organisations' humanitarian aid to alleviate the immediate suffering of displaced persons, refugees and civilians at risk in eastern Zaire, and to facilitate the voluntary, orderly repatriation of refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as well as the voluntary return of displaced persons".

The original purpose of the multinational force was twofold: to open humanitarian aid corridors to gain access to the refugee population isolated by fighting in eastern Zaire, and to provide protection for aid workers active in the region. The current situation in the Great Lakes region has changed dramatically in recent weeks. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have returned to Rwanda, and continue to return at a rate of 5,000 per day. The Mugungan refugee camp, previously the world's largest refugee camp, has been effectively dismantled. Aid workers have returned to the Great Lakes region and have tirelessly resumed their valuable work. These are positive developments which occurred in spite of international inaction rather than as a result of any coherent EU or UN policy.

Conversely, the political situation in Zaire has deteriorated into anarchy and civil war. The Tutsi rebel leader, Laurent Kabila, has stepped up his campaign to capture Kinshasa and oust President Mobutu. In Burundi, the army has reportedly embarked on a bloody campaign against the Hutu population. In Rwanda, thousands of Hutu prisoners, including many women and children continue to languish in filthy, disease-ridden prisons without the prospect of trial. The Hutu extremist Interhamwe militia, responsible for the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda over two years ago, have not been captured, disarmed and brought to justice. The situation in the Great Lakes region is volatile and explosive. However, the volatility and dynamism of the crisis should not be manipulated by the Government, and the international political community at large, as an excuse for inaction.

The EU, through the UN, has a critical role to play in resolving the crisis in Central Africa. Ireland, as President of the EU, must assume the responsibility of leadership and ensure that the EU takes decisive action to achieve a stable and long lasting solution to the crisis. This is a responsibility each of us must assume as we debate the pros and cons of sending a contingent of the Permanent Defence Forces to eastern Zaire.

Although I am strongly in favour of the motion, it is insufficient merely to revitalise the concept of a multinational force as embodied in UN Security Council Resolution 1080. The most immediate and critical task to be undertaken by a multinational force is that of ascertaining the location and condition of the 200,000-700,000 refugees who have failed to return to Rwanda.

In recent weeks the debate among representatives of the European Union, the United Nations and central African countries has shifted from the task of formulating a coherent international response to the crisis in the Great Lakes region to the question of whether a response is needed. This shift in agenda, which has occurred at the expense of time and lives, hangs on the failure of the international community to monitor the movements and numbers of the refugee population in eastern Zaire.

The United Nations estimated that it was feeding approximately 1.2 million refugees in Zaire since the crisis in 1994. The United Nations and aid agencies in the region estimate that approximately 700,000 refugees have returned to Rwanda in recent weeks. Basic arithmetic is sufficient to demonstrate that the Rwandan Government grossly misrepresented the severity of the problem when it claimed that virtually all of the refugees had returned.

Although the return of 700,000 refugees to Rwanda is a positive development, it presents many grave challenges to the Rwandan Government and the international community as represented by the European Union and the United Nations. Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The mass influx of refugees will greatly exacerbate the problems associated with overpopulation. The local population of predominantly Hutu areas such as Gisenyi and Ruhengeri has increased by as much as 30 per cent. When coupled with the explosive political atmosphere which has surrounded the return of the refugees, these twin circumstances present a dangerous picture. A multinational force must be on hand to guarantee and protect human rights.

To assess accurately the number and condition of remaining refugees and to adequately protect human rights the mandate of a multinational force for deployment in the Great Lakes region must be expanded beyond the capacity of Resolution 1080. It must have a mandate to disarm the militias active in the region as well as elements of the former Rwandan Army. It must have a mandate to arrest those guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, rape and other violations of human rights. It must include a specialised international civilian human rights component to monitor the human rights situation.

As President of the European Union, Ireland must ensure the establishment of a multinational force for deployment in the Great Lakes region is not merely a belated exercise in face-saving. It must have a clear and strong mandate to be carried out within a specified period. This is essential, as we have seen from other examples. If these criteria are not fulfilled, not only will the presence of a multinational force fail to alleviate the crisis, it may serve to aggravate it.

The role played by Ireland, the European Union, the United Nations and the international community as a whole in the Great Lakes region must not be restricted to military action alone. The deployment of a multinational force in the region has as its primary objective the need to expedite the humanitarian aid effort, which must underpin rather than replace the search for a stable and long-lasting political solution to the problems which have bedevilled the countries of central Africa.

It is not sufficient to deliver temporary relief, wash our hands and return home for Christmas dinner. The international community must commit itself to the long-term restructuring of central Africa. Long-term priorities must include the successful resettlement and reintegration of returnees in Rwanda; rehabilitation of the judicial system in Rwanda; radical restructuring of the prison system in Rwanda in compliance with full respect for human rights, and restoration of democracy which must address the need for power sharing.

I pay special tribute, on behalf of the people, to our non-governmental organisations such as Trócaire, Concern, GOAL and others operating in the region. We owe them a great debt of gratitude. They continue to operate and provide humanitarian aid at great personal risk. They embody the aims and ideals of the people in a magnificent manner.

There is no simple solution to the crisis in central Africa. It is a complex problem to which the response must be sophisticated.

Mr. O'Malley

While I am glad that this motion has, at last, been introduced, I am disappointed at the nature of what has been proposed by the Minister. The strength of our armed forces is 13,000-14,000 personnel. The most we are prepared to contribute to this expedition for which there is a crying and urgent need is, apparently, about 100 men. That is inadequate from an Irish, European and United Nations point of view. The Minister mentioned that it is envisaged that the total number of troops involved will be about 2,000. When one thinks of the vast areas where there are problems and the vast populations of the countries concerned, particularly Zaire, 2,000 troops is a mere drop in the ocean.

It appears that many of these troops will be based in a headquarters in Kampala in Uganda. I cannot understand the thinking behind this. It is like the United Nations deciding, if there was a serious problem here and it felt it had to deploy a force to protect refugees and displaced persons, that its headquarters should be located in the south of France or northern Italy, approximately the same distance away. This does not make sense. I would have thought that the headquarters of a multinational force would be located in Goma, Bukavu or either end of Lake Kivu at the centre of the problem.

The significance of the problem is highlighted by the fact that the flow of refugees returning voluntarily to Rwanda has been reduced to a trickle. The United Nations report of 3 December, issued last night, states that the number of refugees crossing into Rwanda from Goma has slowed to 250 per day and that aid agencies fear most of the remaining Rwandans have moved west further away from the border.

The number of remaining Rwandans and displaced Zaireans is somewhere in the region of 750,000, many of whom have not had any contact with an aid agency or NGO for well over one month. Nobody can say with certainty what condition they are in but it must be bad because they have been wandering for over one month and living off the land. There must be little left to live on. This is most distressing as these people are highly vulnerable. In spite of constant calls from people like Commissioner Bonino in the European Union and the Secretary General of the United Nations, the response of the western world and the United Nations in general has been to talk about the deployment of 2,000 troops.

The Minister did not specify a time for the deployment of this force. The Canadian Foreign Minister said yesterday that nobody wanted to be in Rwanda or Zaire over Christmas and that these troops might arrive after Christmas. I find that quite distressing — it is an indication of a lack of concern for the awful suffering which 0.75 million are enduring. While I fully support this motion, I have reservations about its inadequacy and the inadequacy of our response and that of the UN and the EU.

It is worth looking at the up to date position which seems to change so rapidly. It was reported last night and again this morning that eastern Zairean rebels claim to have captured Kisangani, but this remains uncertain because it has been denied by the Zairean central Government. However, the rebels are certainly in the vicinity of Kisangani, hundreds of kilometres west of the Rwandan border. As I said three or four weeks ago, Zaire is beginning to disintegrate. Everything which has happened since seems to bear that out.

The difficulties which exist are borne out by the fact that the Zairean rebel leader, Laurent Kabila, who is closely associated with the Rwandan Government or the Tutsi element in it, has said the territory under the control of his forces will soon be named Democratic Congo. He was interviewed on the news last night and he seems to be in the process of establishing a breakaway independent state. NGOs and aid agencies cannot operate in an environment with this type of conflict unless there is a serious military presence there to protect the donors and would be recipients of the aid which is so urgently needed.

Another reason I am concerned about the headquarters being located in Kampala is that AFP reported "celebrations by Ugandan soldiers following the capture of Kasindi, Masabwe, Manda and Mutaga in Zaire. Uganda is reportedly assembling many more troops along the Zairean border." That is a serious situation and it is obvious that those in the region look on Zaire, or what we might now call former Zaire, as being up for grabs. Mr. Kabila is to form a country in eastern Zaire to be known as Democratic Congo. Uganda has already moved into part of Zaire and is celebrating its capture. To talk about 2,000 troops being headquartered in Kampala as a sufficient reaction is patently inadequate.

However, at least we have made progress. Five weeks ago in the House I said it was essential that the UN, the EU and Ireland should send troops to the region. I was told by the Tánaiste on 31 October that there was no question of us or the EU sending troops. He said it was unlikely that the UN or the EU, under whatever mandate, would be sending troops to this region. He went on to say that in all honesty he did not see European Union member states offering troops for a mission to the area. When I said it required immediate military intervention and that nothing else was adequate, he said he had to disagree with my suggestions. At least we have advanced from that position and we have succeeded, as a result of short debates in the House, in changing the Tánaiste's mind. The tragedy is that if there had been military intervention when I recommended it in October, thousands of people would now be alive.

While I am disappointed by the size of Ireland's contribution, it is not the only country which is not fulfilling its obligations as fully as we might wish. Larger, richer and militarily more powerful nations are making as small a contribution as Ireland, in particular the US and the UK. It was reported yesterday that the UK will now be contributing only a few logistics personnel to the multinational force. That is appalling and we are entitled, even with our small contribution, to express our criticism and regret at the unwillingness of the UK to contribute a meaningful force to this multinational effort. The US has confined itself to providing transport and money. Money is a way of salving one's conscience. If one does not want to make an effort and is rich enough, one can provide money so that nobody can blame one for not making an effort to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people.

I am sorry we do not have more time to deal with this matter. I welcome the motion, which does not place a limit on troops. I hope the numbers will increase. Do we need to maintain a battalion in the Lebanon? Could we not move these troops? Could the UN not move most of its 5,000 troops in the Lebanon to eastern Zaire to protect these unfortunate people?

The Minister said "We saw in 1994 that a humanitarian solution alone is not a solution at all." I have no difficulty in agreeing with that, but here we are again trying to wash our hands and say that we, the western world, the rich world, will provide money but we will not put anybody at risk. We will allow people to die in their thousands, we will not try to prevent the breakup of the existing order, we will allow all kinds of breakaway states and anarchical developments to continue in the area. The world has a duty to stop what is happening in Zaire. On passing a motion such as this we cannot afford the luxury of leaving it open to be fulfilled at some unspecified date in the future. The troops should be on their way as soon as this motion is passed. Those who have greater obligations than we have, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and others, should also ensure that troops are on their way without delay. It is a crying disgrace that is not done.

Mr. Gallagher

(Laoighis-Offaly): The wider political points relating to this region will be debated tomorrow and I hope to have an opportunity then to contribute further to that debate. Two years ago we all realised the importance of intervening to assist the people of Rwanda. From our knowledge and experience of that part of Africa we realise how incredibly complex is the position there and that a political solution needs to be found. It has proven very difficult to persuade the international community and even the European Union to address the question of a long-term political solution. The colonialism visited on the continent of Africa in the last century and the first part of this century by our partners in the EU has left a dreadful legacy of division, power struggles and exploitation. Yet they, more than anybody else, have been most unwilling to intervene in a positive fashion to assist those countries.

In all the conflicts that have arisen in Africa in the past 20 years, there have been three main elements: the Cold War conflict between the United States and the Soviet bloc, the hasty colonial retreat by the Belgians, British and French in their efforts to maintain an economic stranglehold on many of those countries and in more recent years the insidious element of the international arms trade. We cannot solve those problems on our own, but as a small neutral country we can do much in the humanitarian area and we can help in the political area. Our contribution in terms of military intervention will complement the work done by Irish NGOs and volunteers.

In the political area our capacity to act is limited for a number of reasons, particularly the weakness of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy. It has proven extremely difficult to get agreement on that issue at European as well United Nations level. The only area where agreement was reached quickly is the humanitarian area. The recent visit to the region by the Minister of State, Deputy Burton, and Commissioner Bonino achieved a rapid response at a humanitarian level and I compliment them on that.

I am not surprised it has taken nearly two months to reach a decision that 2,000 military personnel will be sent to this region. That contrasts clearly with the response to the Iraqi evasion of Kuwait and the crisis relating to the Kurds in northern Iraq when the international community under the UN flag moved very quickly. Our so-called partners such as France and Belgium do not have an honourable record in this area. Considering their involvement in the events leading up to the genocide in 1994, one is almost ashamed to be their partner.

I am not surprised the Rwandan people are sceptical about a United Nations force. There was a United Nations force there when the genocide occurred but it stood by because its mandate was not strong enough. It is a disgrace to the international community that in this case it has taken so long to get a commitment to intervene, and it has taken even longer to work out a mandate. As is evident from the debate today and from current affairs coverage in the past two weeks, it has proven even more difficult to get a commitment from countries that are in a position to send large contingents of military forces. When the crisis was at its peak, Mr. Perry, Mr. Rifkind and Mr. Portillo got credit for their determination to commit troops to the area, but in the past two weeks they quietly retreated on that.

I share many of Deputy O'Malley's concerns about this force, but I agree we should contribute to it. The contribution outlined by the Minister is a start, but I hope it is only a start and that we will be in a position to send further troops as the need arises. I particularly welcome the fact that a number of Army officers who have experience of Rwanda and eastern Zaire will be included in the force. Many of those officers worked extremely hard in the 1994 emergency in assisting humanitarian organisations and NGOs. From my encounters with Irish officers in Africa, they provide a very useful role in liaising between organisations, military forces and local communities. I have no doubt the officers who take part in this force will serve in a distinguished fashion.

The House should keep under constant review the mandate for the force. We have seen in recent weeks that uncertainty can prevail — for example, when we feared the genocide of Rwandan Hutu refugees in eastern Zaire, almost overnight the position changed and they returned to Rwanda. We have heard varying reports of the number of refugees — from 170,000 to 700,000 — still in the south Kivu region. As the position in Zaire unfolds daily, we realise how complex and difficult the problems are.

The Government and this House should keep its attention focused firmly on this issue. I stress that no military force, regardless of its size, will solve the problem in the Great Lakes region. A response will be required at three levels, political, humanitarian and human rights level. We should do everything possible to assist ex-President Nyerere in his efforts to broker agreements. It should be remembered that the genocide occurred in 1994 because elements in the Hutu leadership in Rwanda would not accept the implementation of the Arusha accords. This problem did not appear overnight and it will not disappear overnight. We must maintain an interest in providing military forces and continue to provide a political interest and a humanitarian response to this problem, which will not be solved by sending a force as proposed in this motion. Sending the force will help, and it should be supported, but sustained effort is required over a long period. I hope the House will return to this subject on a more regular basis than it has in the past two years.

Mr. M. Smith

I wish to share my time with Deputy Michael Kitt.

Acting Chairman (Mr. T. Foxe)

That is agreed.

Mr. M. Smith

It is said the world bank of knowledge doubled twice in this century alone. We all know about advances in medical science, food nutrition, transport, housing, sanitation and communications. Many of these developments are without parallel in our history. The world's population has grown from two billion to 5.6 billion in this century. In many developed countries people are living almost ten years longer, yet in the middle of all this development lies a human tragedy of death, disease, hunger and ethnic conflicts. We see harrowing pictures on television of children reaching for food and being trampled on by those who are stronger. A week does not pass but these pictures come into the homes of everybody who has a television.

What is at issue here this morning is not that these tragedies occur but the action the world community is prepared to take to ensure that, as far as is possible, human life is not trampled on in the way it is being trampled on in eastern Zaire, where hundreds of thousands of people walk for miles without food or water. We have to admit honestly that the efforts of the United Nations have been sluggish and unresponsive to these great needs. In addition, the European Union, of which we have the Presidency, has delayed sending troops who will try to open up the corridors for the aid workers and to assist the other developments that must take place. An opportunity was lost in this area. It is time we remedied that and made sure troops, and others being recruited in the transport military police and engineering areas, are sent as soon as possible.

I was sad to learn that in regard to the specialised group which left for Rwanda we are still squabbling about overseas allowances. Will the Minister for Defence, who is taking this debate today, ensure that problem is resolved and we do not ask troops to go overseas in this uncertainty? Given our experience in Rwanda, we should end that dialogue, solve the problem and move on.

In regard to the convention on the safety of United Nations troops and associated personnel, will the Minister for Foreign Affairs introduce the legislation to ratify that convention as soon as possible? I want to give the remainder of my time to Deputy Kitt.

Mr. M. Kitt

I thank Deputy Smith for sharing his time with me. As we have been reminded in the House by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, we are finding out more every day about the position in the Great Lakes region. In today's Irish Independent there is an article referring to the fact that the Tutsi rebels captured the Bunia town in north eastern Zaire, according to refugees and Ugandan army sources. In addition, US army reconnaissance has located 170,000 refugees in a strip of land 60 miles west of the Rwandan border. That brings home to us the seriousness of the crisis. The chairman of Trocaire, Bishop Kirby, recently described the crisis in the area as a scene of biblical proportions and talked about men and women carrying large bundles on their heads, children clinging for dear life to the skirts of their mothers and old people hobbling on crutches and on sticks.

I am concerned about the delay in dealing with this matter. I understand from questions I tabled to the Minister a summit of regional leaders took place in Nairobi on 5 October. I would have expected to see more action being taken in regard to this crisis since then. The regional leaders' resolution to take urgent measures was followed up by the OAU in Addis Ababa; I believe the Minister of State travelled to the region also. There have been major delays since then in bringing that resolution before the House.

My other concern relates to the fact that our army officers complained of not having sufficient personnel, not even a battalion. The Minister put our minds at ease this morning in that regard and perhaps he might comment on the question of further troops being made available. Those comments were not encouraging, however, and the officers stated also that the question of medical corps personnel was not addressed.

When I raised this question with the Minister on 20 November he told me a resolution had been adopted by the UN Security Council to establish a force up to the end of March 1997. I hope the Minister's comment about further consideration to supplying more troops will be realised.

Amnesty International has raised concern about Resolution No. 1078 which does not specifically mention the prevention of human rights violations as one of the functions. Will the Minister comment on that point and on the questions raised by Trocaire about monitoring the resettlement of refugees and the thousands of prisoners living in appalling conditions in Rwanda, which is vitally important?

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Ms Burton)

I welcome Ireland's participation in the force. I have been critical of the slowness of the UN response, and that is one of the reasons I led a EU Troika mission to the region, specifically in the context of Ireland's Presidency of the European Union. The work done by me, my other colleagues in the Troika, and Commissioner Bonino, was important. At that stage the Secretary General had talked about reconvening the committee three weeks later, on 20 November, to discuss the question of sending a force to the region.

It is important that the mandate of the force includes the separation and disarming of armed elements because Zaire is a vast country the size of western Europe made up of a number of provinces, some of which are remote from the authority of central government. A number of rebel forces in Kivu in Zaire appear to have been accepted by the local population. Probably the fiercest and most appalling militia groups ever seen, the ex-FAR and the Interhamwe, which masterminded and carried out the murder of one million people in Rwanda, are operating in Kivu province at the same time. Not all those murdered were Tutsis as has been said. A number of moderate Hutus who refused to take part in the killing of their fellow Tutsi citizens were also murdered. It is important that we and our troops understand this appallingly complex and interwoven situation which is not capable of an easy solution. It is a problem which has been there since colonial times which was exacerbated on independence. It is ironic that our soldiers are now returning to Zaire which was where the first peacekeeping mission was undertaken by them when the country was known as the Congo. It is interesting that the leader of the rebel forces, Mr. Kabila, comes from what is now called Shaba province and was known to most Irish people then as Katanga.

There has been dithering on the part of the generals at the Stuttgart meeting. What we need from the force changes on a week-by-week basis but it can do important work, even at this late stage. It can assist in the humanitarian effort. Approximately 600,000 people have successfully returned home but other people are still out in the bush in eastern Zaire and have been out of camps for more than five weeks. I am more than fearful for their condition. We also know that the Hutu militias, the Interhamwe and the ex-FAR, are on a rampage of killing in parts of eastern Zaire. Our reports on this are limited but the intelligence made available to us is frightening. The international force must have a mandate which includes the separation and distinguishing between the armed elements in the ex-FAR and the Interhamwe and ordinary refugees forced to leave their homes and who, like the 600,000 who have successfully returned home, would also like to return home.

We already have reports that the rebel forces led by Mr. Kabila may have already made their way as far as Kisengani which is in the middle of eastern Zaire and 500 kilometres from Goma. Kivu province now appears to be, with the exception of areas controlled by the Interhamwe, under the control of the Kabila forces. There are sensitivities as to how the international force will operate. It must clarify that those who are genocidal killers are not in the same category as those whose express desire is to take part in Zairean elections.

We, as President of the European Union, started our visit to Zaire by saying to the people that we would like to see a peaceful transition to democracy and that we, as the European Union, would underwrite in part the cost of the elections. I urge the rebel forces to go the democratic road and I hope the troops' presence will offer part of the mechanism whereby those forces in Kivu can join in a democratic solution to the problems of Zaire. Otherwise, I fear Zaire may break up into a series of chaotic civil wars with huge potential for loss of life.

As regards the soldiers, the Army and the Government have said that we are ready to assist as requested. There are important jobs we can do and soldiers and officers in the Army have a good record of assisting in a peacemaking process in similar difficult situations. It will be essential to keep the progress of the force under constant review. The return of people to Rwanda has been an extraordinary success as 600,000 people have returned to their homes in conditions which are close to miraculous. Rather like our ceasefire, that miraculous sense of going home in conditions of calm with no revenge killings can only be maintained if the international community makes a massive effort to support it.

Deputy Michael Kitt referred to monitors. They are essential because they let us know how the returning refugees get on and they are also essential in vital areas such as housing.

People talk about Rwanda in terms of hunger. Those who know Rwanda know it is one of the most fertile countries and the region is one of the most fertile parts of the world producing two to three crops per year. If people go hungry, it is not because of famine but because of political events. We must provide seeds and agricultural implements for the first season to provide food for the first period when people return home. Ireland is making a specific contribution of £2.25 million and the European Union is making a massive commitment of 170 million ECU to this area. We need to assist with housing. At the moment returning refugees are claiming their houses and people who are the victims of genocide or are former refugees are being thrown out of those houses to make way for the returning owners. A situation like that can only be settled by a huge amount of extra housing. The presence and assistance of the international force is needed for the logistics of this. There were 200 hundred lorries in Rwanda three weeks ago for a movement of half a million people. Every bus, bicycle and lorry in the country was commandeered. If the people in Zaire are to come home, more logistical support like lorries are needed to take them home and save them walking 50 to 100 miles. They can and are doing it but it would be better if there was transport to their homes and that, when they get home, they were assisted as rapidly as possible with housing and shelter.

It has been my experience in visiting the camps in Ngara and Goma on different occasions that the Irish people working in the region have done a tremendous job. The fact that they are so involved in the various planning committees in the region is a tribute to the work the organisations have done in those areas. We can all be proud of the Irish people. The logistical experience of soldiers from the Army is vital and of enormous practical assistance even if it is not regular soldiering in the tradition we know. It is important in the key work to be done. We must also bear in mind that military assistance is ten times more expensive than humanitarian assistance. The humanitarian workers and the local authorities in the region know what assistance they want from the soldiers. There is an important job for them to do.

One other point Deputy Kitt made was about the conditions in Rwandan jails. That is something on which the European Union has focused and Irish aid has contributed significantly in terms of feeding, clothing and providing water to the prisoners. We have undertakings from the Government of Rwanda, which we will follow up closely, that those prisoners will be brought to trial beginning in December and will include elements of the South African truth and reconciliation process. The reality in Rwanda is that with more than one million people being killed and with everybody being made complicit in the killing, the ordinary systems of justice simply do not answer the need for justice and for judicial proving of guilt or innocence. That is necessary, but they also have to provide the mechanism for reconciliation between the different groups in the country. That is why in our statement we said that the assistance we give to Rwanda must not only meet humanitarian needs but must be consistent with efforts to reconcile the different groups.

Mr. Andrews

I welcome this proposal of the Minister for Defence. It was I who, when Minister for Defence, introduced the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993 which sent two contingents of troops to Somalia where they served two six-month rotas over a period of 12 months with honour, integrity and responsibility. I have no doubt that in introducing this legislation the Minister for Defence, Deputy Barrett, will have at his disposal the same quality of officers and other ranks to serve this cause in the name of Ireland. Our record in that regard is unequalled.

On the general question, I do not wish to be critical or to appear in any way anguished about the lateness of the introduction of this legislation. To say the least, the international community has been dilatory. It has taken almost two months to reach this point. The United Nations approach to this issue has been utterly disgraceful, and the EU has not been far behind, despite what the Minister of State says. Credit is due to her for going with the Troika to that region in the company of Commissioner Bonino who has been tremendously consistent in her criticism of the EU and the UN. However, we are better late than never, because there are many hundreds of thousands of lives still at stake. I can imagine the number of lives that have been lost as a direct result of the slowness of world organisations to do what we would consider to be the business on our behalf and that of the international community generally.

When I had the honour to be Minister for Defence I was in Rwanda. I visited Kigali, Goma in Zaire and the Katale camp and saw the most horrendous of sights, which I am sure the Minister of State saw too when she was there. There were a million refugees in two or three camps surrounding Goma. I then left to go to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. I saw probably one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen, and I have travelled quite a considerable part of the world. Rwanda, which was depicted in "Gorillas in the Mist", a wonderful film about the possible extinction of gorillas living in that part of the world, was magnificent. There were crops in untended fields and beautiful rolling hills reminiscent of parts of Kerry at its very best but this beautiful country is denuded of people. It was quite eerie, to say the least.

I too would like to be associated with the wonderful work of the Irish aid agencies and non-governmental organisations who do a magnificent job. We would be lost without them. Sometimes our foreign policy lags behind what they are doing; they lead and we follow. We should be leading and they should be following. The large organisations to which we happen to belong grind slowly, and it is for that reason that we lag behind.

I am glad the Minister has indicated that a contingent of Irish troops will be going to the Great Lakes region. It is important that they should go, and that they should go sooner rather than later. If the international community continues to prevaricate in Stuttgart, we should go anyway to Rwanda or wherever our presence is required in the first instance, presumably eastern Zaire, and shame the rest of the world into going. I have no doubt that we would be capable of protecting ourselves with the assistance of whoever may be there currently. There is too much to be lost by not going now.

I should like to refer to one other aspect. As Presidency of the EU we should expose the obscene arms trade. The newspapers have reported over the past weeks that arms are still going to certain elements in the part of the world under discussion here. This is utterly disgraceful. The arms trade knows no morality, no bounds, no sides. It is all about money and the pursuit of money. There are countries within the EU which should be exposed as part of the so-called armaments industry. These include France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany and others. The sooner we, as a small country, expose them for the type of immorality they are involved in, the better world we will have. It has never been discovered where the arms that got to this region came from. I can only speculate, and perhaps I would be doing some countries an injustice. It has been happening, and it has been a shame. The countries involved are eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and western Tanzania, and these are the countries which are threatened. France and Belgium owe these areas deep consideration. They are the countries that colonised this region. We have our own history of having gone to the Belgian Congo in the late 1950s and lost a considerable number of our men in the pursuit of peace. That is how the Irish Army is. Its contribution has been immense and the Army has never been found wanting. It has been a huge element in our whole foreign policy structure and we should be deeply grateful to it.

The failure of the United Nations to act in the Zairean crisis must be considered one of the great acts of inhumanity in recent times. The Security Council has failed to provide the aid agencies with protection. In fairness, this is what the Minister for Defence is doing in this instance. The aid agencies have decided to go it alone to the refugee camps in an act of immense courage. It is time we took the lead and sent out our own contingent in advance of those other larger powers which have failed to do their duty to these people. If there were oil there, or if the people were not black, if it were Kuwait, there would be no problem. Unfortunately, that is not the reality. It is time we took the lead, regardless of what the rest of the world does.

The Government has given time to discuss the humanitarian crisis. Again I pay tribute to the ministerial Troika that visited the region. However important the visit of the Minister of State, Deputy Burton, is to the region it is imperative that the United Nations does its duty urgently without the politics and supports a response force. Ireland will be part of that force for the rescue of many hundreds of thousands of men, women and children and, more particularly, for the protection of the aid agencies.

Mr. Sargent

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute on this important matter. The initiative to intervene in central Africa is late in the day and our involvement in Dáil Éireann could have been earlier. I will be interested to know from the Government whether that has been delayed as a result of other distractions within Dáil Éireann. It is important that we are getting down to dealing with the issue of sending troops which requires a decision from Dáil Éireann rather than the Government. It is sad that in trying to understand the complexity of what is happening in central Africa, without the benefit of visiting the region, that the media reports contain huge contradictions and widely differing reports. An article in The Guardian last week by Chris McGreal stated:

Last week American and United Nations' officials studied the same satellite photos of the same tracks of Eastern Zaire and came up with entirely contradictory conclusions. The Americans saw almost nothing, the UN spotted 750,000 miserable souls being driven in circles.

From that statement it was imperative that the Minister of State, Deputy Burton, visited the region and that we got an accurate and up-to-date report on exactly how we can help and where help is needed. In sending Irish troops we must ensure that the structures of command are as patently neutral as possible. If we sent Irish troops on their own that would not be an issue. Presumably we will be operating under a UN mandate. If we were operating under a French command it would be seen as partisan whereas under Canadian command it would be seen as less partisan. Those considerations are vital for the safety of our troops in this region. It is vital also that we work through the political means which involves assisting the aid agencies.

The Government and all of us owe an increased debt to the aid agencies. It is not always realised that the success of the lottery has resulted in a considerable fall off of voluntary funds to aid agencies and the Government has to pick up some of the tab. The likelihood, given the rampant, uncontrolled and unregulated arms industry, which has played not a small part in this conflict, is that Irish troops run the risk of being shot by British, French or Belgian arms in this region. We hope it will not happen and we must take precautionary steps to ensure the arms industry is stopped in its tracks because it is running riot over the poorest areas of the world. That issue needs to be tackled urgently.

Minister for Defence (Mr. Barrett)

I am pleased my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Burton, came in to respond from the point of view of the Department of Foreign Affairs. As the Minister responsible for the Defence Forces, I will not, under any circumstances send troops to any place where they do not know what they are supposed to do and where they are disposed to risks that are not acceptable. It is grossly unfair of people to criticise the delay on the part of the Irish Defence Forces in participating in this region. For the past four, five and six weeks we have been available to participate in any force, in any way required. The reason I have mentioned a figure of 100 Irish troops — it could be 140 — is that the Government committed itself to a UN standby arrangement to a maximum of 850. Between Bosnia-Hercegovnia and South Lebanon we have in the region of 750 to 775 people involved.

As a small country we should be proud of our record in terms of peacekeeping. We have proven ourselves to be experts at peacekeeping. We do not have an army that is armed to the hilt with heavy weaponry. We are more involved in logistics in terms of human aid, humanitarian assistance and we are good at dealing with people. That is the speciality of the Irish army and long may it continue. Wherever we go we fit in in a broader scale with those involved with heavy weaponry and so on who have another job to do.

The job which the Irish Army do in the context of peacekeeping is very specialised, to the extent that we are respected wherever we go irrespective of the size of our country. I was pleased to hear the remarks of the Minister of State, Deputy Burton. I reject the criticism that Ireland has been sitting on the fence during its Presidency in dealing with this issue. Everybody knows that the Irish Presidency, for the last number of weeks and months, has been forcing the situation here. Unfortunately people have not lived up to their responsibilities. We have been prepared to live up to our responsibilities and are prepared to do it tomorrow morning. I understand that a request could come this Friday for up to 35 military police to proceed to the region and we would be pleased to supply them.

With regard to the future role of Irish Defence Forces in peacekeeping, we have a specialist role to play. Please do not ever expect trained soldiers to go into an area where they do not know what they are supposed to do. That is the key issue in peacekeeping. It was ironic that my colleague from Dún Laoghaire, Deputy Andrews, who was Minister for Defence in 1993, contributed to this debate. As a result of his bringing in legislation a small transport unit was sent to Somalia, which I visited when a member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. As a result of the 1993 legislation this motion is before the House. The reason people are dragging their feet in relation to Rwanda and Zaire is because of the failure in Somalia. The troops who were sent there did not know what they were supposed to do. The Americans moved in, cleared the port at Mogadishu and the food got in. Eventually the UN had to withdraw its troops.

We are pressing to get an international conference under way consisting of the UN and the OAU. This is essential if we are to find a solution to the problem in central Africa. I saw it and anybody who cares to visit that region will soon realise we talk about a totally different culture that is simply not understood by western Europeans. That was my personal experience of my visit to Somalia. To send troops to these areas without a clear mandate is absolute madness. We will be there because we want to assist in a humanitarian way and to assist the NGOs in their great work.

I am proud the Government has increased its level of aid to the Third World which, this year, is in the region of £106 million, the highest ever. That is real commitment on the part of a small country like Ireland. The Government's commitment in terms of the availability of troops for peacekeeping is an indication that we are serious.

It is galling for a Minister for Defence and our Defence Forces, when we go as observers to the Western European Union and recognise we should be participating in partnership for peace, that everybody says we are breaching neutrality and going off the rails. Let us make up our minds once and for all what role we will play in Europe in terms of peacekeeping. That is an essential issue we have to face. There have been calls in this House for a European force to go into the region. How can a European force go into this region when we cannot make up our minds on how we will co-operate on peacekeeping in Europe?

Question put and agreed to.

Sitting suspended at 12.30 p.m. and resumed at 2.30 p.m.