I propose to take Questions Nos. 64, 90 and 138 together.
As the detailed information sought in relation to the number and location of Defence Forces personnel serving overseas is in the form of a tabular statement, I propose to circulate it with the Official Report.
As can be seen there is a total of 736 Defence Forces personnel at present serving overseas. This figure includes 660 personnel who are serving with the United Nations; 51 personnel with the UN authorised Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFOR; 12 personnel with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE; and ten personnel with the European Community Monitor Mission, ECMM, to the former Yugoslavia. There is, in addition, one officer attached to each of the following: the Irish Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, the Irish Permanent Representation to the OSCE in Vienna and Ireland's Observer Delegation to the Western European Union, Western European Union, in Brussels.
As regards the question of contributing additional Defence Forces troops to overseas missions the position is that the level of participation on overseas missions is kept under continual review in order to ensure that security needs at home can be met at all times and that the cost to the Defence Vote does not become excessive. There are no requests at present to contribute to any new missions.