Vol. 495 No. 4
114 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Defence if he will confirm that, in his address to the recent PDFORRA delegate conference, he stated that, if there were no volunteers for UN service, he would inform the UN that Ireland could no longer supply troops. [20536/98]
My address to the PDFORRA Annual Delegate Conference in Ennis on 8 October 1998 was wide-ranging and covered many issues. One of those issues was overseas service. In my speech, I made the point that if significant problems were to arise in fulfilling our obligations in UNIFIL, then we would have to pull out of Lebanon.
However, I am delighted to report that there were no problems with the numbers of volunteers for the new battalion which departs over the next two weeks for service with UNIFIL. It is expected that all positions in the battalion will be filled by the rotation dates. For the first time in years, there is a waiting list of privates to serve in Lebanon. This is a testimony to the Government's policy of ongoing continuous recruitment to the Defence Forces.
