Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 6 Nov 2002

Vol. 556 No. 4

Written Answers. - Overseas Missions.

Finian McGrath

Question:

111 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Defence the number of Irish troops serving on UN missions; and his views on whether the Defence Forces will continue to be involved in peace missions rather than military operations with the EU Rapid Reaction Force. [20809/02]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith)

The total number of Irish troops currently serving on UN missions (including UN mandated missions) is 442, analysed per mission as follows:

(i) UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon)	6
(ii) UNTSO (United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation) – Israel, Syria and Lebanon	13
(iii) UNFICYP (United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus)	6
(iv) UNIKOM (United Nations Iraq Kuwait Observer Mission)	6
(v) MINURSO (United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara)	3
(vi) UNMIK (United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo)	3
(vii) UNMOP (United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka)	1
(viii) UNMISET (United Nations Mission in Support in East Timor)	4
(ix) UNMEE (United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea)	219
(x) MONUC (United Nations Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo)	2
UN Mandated Missions
(xi) SFOR Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina SFOR HQ Sarajevo	60
(xii) KFOR International Security Presence in Kosovo	112
(xiii) ISAF International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan	7
Total Number of Personnel serving with UN Missions	442

Members of the Irish Defence Forces serve with the United Nations on peacekeeping missions under Chapter VI and Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

Chapter VI of the UN Charter is entitled "Pacific Settlement of Disputes" and involves the Security Council making recommendations to the parties involved for settlement of the dispute. Peacekeeping operations mounted under this chapter are of the traditional type seen in UNIFIL or UNMEE, for example, where the UN acts as a monitoring, patrolling and observing force after peace has been established.

Chapter VII of the UN Charter is entitled "Action with respect to threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression". Under this chapter SECCO is mandated to take whatever action "as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security". Peacekeeping operations mounted under this chapter are commonly known as peace enforcement operations where the consent of the parties is not required. SFOR and KFOR in recent years are examples.

Participation by the Defence Forces in the European Security and Defence Policy involves no inherent change in the types of operations on which the Defence Forces might become involved in the future.

The Government's policy in relation to the future development of the Defence Forces is laid out in the White Paper on Defence which was published in February 2000. In this regard, Ireland recognises the primary role of the United Nations in international security. In addition, the conditions under which the Defence Forces may participate on missions have been made very clear by the Government. In this regard, the conditions which have been referred to as the "triple lock" must be satisfied, that is, the operation must be authorised by the United Nations; it must be approved by the Government; and it must be passed by way of a resolution of Dáil Éireann.

Ireland has a fundamental strategic interest in the pace, security and stability of the EU and adjoining regions. Accordingly, Ireland has been a committed participant in developing foreign and security structures. The development of the European Security and Defence Policy at EU level is largely concerned with achieving the Helsinki headline goal: that is, developing the capabilities necessary to carry out the full range of Petersberg Tasks. Petersberg Tasks include humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks and crisis management, including peacemaking. When the headline goal is achieved, the EU should have a developed capability over a wide range of crisis management instruments. In this regard, the process also involves the development of civilian instruments such as police, judicial, civil defence and diplomatic elements. The first Petersberg type operation to be undertaken by the EU, will be a police operation. The EU is to conduct the police mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.