Vol. 576 No. 3
70 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the deployment of Irish troops to locations other than Liberia has been sought or is being contemplated at the present time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29622/03]
The Deputy will be aware that members of the Permanent Defence Force are currently serving overseas in nine UN missions in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Western Sahara, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cyprus, Lebanon, Kosovo, Timor L'Este and the Middle East, as well as in multinational forces authorised by the Security Council, in Kosovo – KFOR, Bosnia and Herzegovina – SFOR, and in Afghanistan – ISAF.
Deployment to other missions is not currently under consideration. Any future proposals for overseas deployment by the Permanent Defence Force, including those carried out under the European security and defence policy, will remain subject to a Government decision and will continue to require UN authorisation for the mission in question. In addition, a resolution by Dáil Éireann is required where the proposed number for deployment of Irish personnel exceeds 12. These conditions are set out in the Defence Acts and were reflected in the national declaration made by Ireland at the Seville European Council in June 2002, in advance of the referendum on the Nice treaty held in October of that year. Assessment of any such proposal would also need to take into account the numbers of Permanent Defence Force personnel available for overseas service at that time.
