Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 March 2004
7 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Defence the reason Ireland has not yet signed up to all elements of the United Nations standby high-readiness brigade; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9308/04]
View answerShirbrig is an initiative, originally sponsored by Denmark in 1995, to establish a United Nations high readiness brigade, non-standing, of 4,000 to 5,000 troops to strengthen UN standby arrangements UNSAS. The aim of Shirbrig is to be able to deploy troops, at short notice, to peacekeeping missions in trouble spots around the world. Shirbrig has been developed around Chapter VI of the UN Charter, namely, ceasefire supervision, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance.
Shirbrig has four levels of participation to which Ireland has signed up to the first two stages. As a result, Ireland now has representative status on the Shirbrig steering committee and participates in developing policies and guidance for the brigade and votes on proposals. The next level of membership would involve the commitment of troops to the brigade. The question of signing up to the next two stages of Shirbrig membership will be considered later this year. As Shirbrig is currently evolving and developing, it is prudent that we should take a staged and considered approach to our membership.
I thank the Minister for that reply. He will be aware that Austria, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Norway, Romania, Spain and Sweden have signed all four documents. Why have we, as a neutral State committed to the UN, not gone that far? Why are we only at stage two? Does the Minister agree that this is a good initiative in which we should play an active part because of our commitment to the UN?
On our commitment of 850 military personnel to UNSAS, are these the same 850 personnel we have committed to the European Rapid Reaction Force and NATO's Partnership for Peace? Is there a conflict between those commitments and our rightful commitment to the UN?
Deputy Gormley is right, 16 countries have signed up fully for Shirbrig and there are five or six other observer countries. We are more than half way through the process and we expect to make final decisions at the end of the year. There are no objections in principle but I must take into account our capacity to meet demands. Last week the UN requested that the Defence Forces serve in another mission and we were unable to respond positively because of the sheer pressure on us to maintain the numbers we have.
The commitment of 850 personnel to UNSAS is identical to the headline goal. It represents 10% of the total Army personnel and it is a much more significant commitment than any of our partners in percentage terms. As well as the existing commitment, the next group is in training and there is a further group behind that. Filling the mission completely with all the specialties required is a task that the Defence Forces undertake effectively and efficiently. The Shirbrig matter will be finalised by the end of the year.
Is that a commitment to go the further two stages and sign up fully?
It is normal in all these affairs to conduct negotiations without forecasting what will be done in advance. The next stage is the commitment of troops, the most serious part, because when we make that commitment I must be in a position to honour it because making commitments for the sake of it is meaningless, I must be able to fulfil them.
