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Defence Forces Deployment

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 December 2013

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Questions (12)

Mick Wallace

Question:

12. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Defence the basis upon which members of the Defence Forces, a declared neutral country under the rules of the Hague Convention, can participate in military alliances such as the NATO Partnership for Peace and EU battle groups. [52909/13]

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Written answers

Ireland is not a party to the Hague Convention (V) respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in Case of War on Land, and there are no plans for it to become one. Ireland's policy of military neutrality is characterised by non-participation in military alliances. This policy has been underpinned by a set of complementary values which include, inter alia, the protection of human rights; support for development, participation in international peacekeeping operations under UN mandates; and the promotion of disarmament and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction.

Partnership for Peace (PfP) is a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between individual Euro-Atlantic partner countries and NATO. It allows partners to build up an individual relationship with NATO, choosing their own priorities for cooperation. Participation in PfP is entirely voluntary and is based on the principle of self-differentiation, that is, a State selects for itself the nature and scope of its participation in PfP activities. The PfP programme focuses on defence related cooperation and is designed to help increased stability, diminish threats to peace and build strengthened security relationships. The principal benefit of our participation is that it has allowed us to enhance the capabilities of Ireland's Defence Forces for peacekeeping, preventative and crisis management operations under UN mandates. It should be noted that a number of like minded, militarily neutral countries also participate in NATO/PfP such as Switzerland, Finland and Austria.

In relation to EU Battlegroups, again these are not military alliances. They are a fundamental aspect of the EU's capability to react rapidly to developing crises around the globe. Battlegroups are made available by Member States to the EU Council and there must be unanimity for their deployment. Within the EU Battlegroup concept, the purpose of the Battlegroup, as a rapid response capability, includes the role of acting as an initial entry force to stabilise a situation pending the deployment of a follow-on force, to support an established peace support operation which is running into difficulties, similar to the deployment of EU forces in the UN operation in the Congo; and to respond to humanitarian crises. It should be stressed that any deployment of an Irish contingent in a Battlegroup context would be subject to the requirements of the "triple-lock".

In 1999, Dáil Éireann approved Ireland's participation in Partnership for Peace. In 2007 Dáil Éireann approved the Memorandum of Understanding to participate in the Nordic Battlegroup 2008 and again, in 2012, approved the Memorandum of Understanding for the Austro-German Battlegroup 2012.

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