Vol. 558 No. 2
113 Mr. S. Power asked the Minister for Defence the number of Defence Forces personnel who will be on overseas duty for Christmas 2002; the missions on which they are serving; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23990/02]
A total of 488 Defence Forces personnel are serving overseas, full details of which are listed in the table which follows. With the deployment of an additional officer to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) on 15 December 2002 and the reduction in the number of Irish personnel serving in the force HQ of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) from 12 to ten with effect from 11 December 2002, it is expected that approximately 487 personnel will be serving overseas during Christmas 2002.
Defence Forces personnel serving on overseas missions are deployed on six-month rotations or multiples of six months in some instances, for example one to two year deployments or secondments. The rotation of the Defence Forces contingent serving with UNMEE will take place early next month. No rotations are due over the Christmas period in overseas peacekeeping missions and, as such, there will be no change in the numbers serving overseas on these missions in the period.
|
1. UN Missions |
|
|
(i) UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) |
7 |
|
(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 of Support in East Timor) |
4 |
|
(ix) UNMEE (United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea) |
221 |
|
(x) MONUC (United Nations Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo) |
2 |
|
UN Mandated Missions |
|
|
(xi) SFOR Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina SFOR HQ Sarajevo |
61 |
|
(xii) KFOR International Security Presence in Kosovo |
113 |
|
(xiii) ISAF International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan |
7 |
|
Total number of personnel serving with UN missions |
447 |
|
EU Mission |
|
|
European Union Monitor Mission (EUMM) to the former Yugoslavia |
14 |
|
3. Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) |
|
|
(i) OSCE Mission to Bosnia & Herzegovina |
3 |
|
(ii) OSCE Mission in Croatia |
1 |
|
(iii) OSCE Mission in Kosovo |
1 |
|
(iv) OSCE Presence in Albania |
1 |
|
(v) OSCE Mission in FRY |
2 |
|
(vi) OSCE Mission in Macedonia |
1 |
|
(vii) OSCE Mission in Georgia |
2 |
|
(viii) Staff Officer, Higher Level Planning Group, Vienna |
1 |
|
Total number of personnel serving OSCE |
12 |
|
4. Head of Military Staff (Brussels) |
1 |
|
5. EU Military Staff (Brussels) |
3 |
|
6. Liaison Office of Ireland, PfP (Brussels) |
3 |
|
7. Permanent Representative to EU (Brussels) |
4 |
|
8. Military Representatives/ Advisers/ (on secondment to Dept of Foreign Affairs) |
|
|
(i) Military Adviser, Permanent Mission to UN, New York |
1 |
|
(ii) Deputy Military Adviser, Permanent Mission to UN, New York |
1 |
|
(iii) Military Adviser, Irish Delegation to OSCE, Vienna |
1 |
|
(iv) Military Representative to Partnership Co-ordination Cell/Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Mons, Belgium |
1 |
|
Total number Defence Forces personnel serving overseas |
488 |
