Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 January 2015
2. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Defence if he will confirm plans to send Irish Defence Forces personnel to the Indian Ocean to tackle piracy; the number of personnel who will be involved; and the possible timeframe for deployment. [1394/15]
View answerI welcome the Minister back after the Christmas break. There were media reports in December that the Minister was examining proposals to send Irish troops to the Indian Ocean to battle piracy as part of plans to expand peacekeeping missions abroad. My questions centre on that.
In response to the rising levels of piracy and armed robbery off the Horn of Africa and in the western Indian Ocean, the European Union launched its first maritime operation, EUNAVFOR ATALANTA, on 8 December 2008. The primary aims of the operation are to contribute to the protection of vessels of the World Food Programme delivering food aid to displaced persons in Somalia, in accordance with the mandate laid down in UN Security Council Resolution 1814 (2008); and to the protection of vulnerable vessels cruising off the Somali coast, and the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast, in accordance with the mandate laid down in UN Security Council Resolution 1816 (2008).
Two Naval Service officers were deployed to the operational headquarters of Operation ATALANTA at Northwood in the United Kingdom between June and November 2009. The Department of Defence has begun examining potential options in regard to a contribution by Ireland to the mission, in consultation with the military authorities. This examination is at a very early stage and no decision has been made.
To be blunt about it, I have asked my Department to consider this seriously. Many other European countries have made a contribution towards it. Ireland is a county that relies on trade. This is about protecting and maintaining trade routes in this part of the world. Ireland has the capacity to make a positive and real contribution to this effort. Of course, however, it needs to be fully costed to determine whether we can afford it; that is the issue at present. As soon as we make a decision on that, we will revert to the House because we would need its full approval before any definitive decision could be made.
Have there been any specific requests? Who did the requests come from? The Minister referred to costs. Has he a ballpark figure for the cost? How many troops are being talked about?
In the past, the Irish Rangers operated in the area. One of them was injured at one stage. This is media speculation and I do not know if that is the situation.
Somalia is a failed state, and there is a difficulty in that regard. There are warlords. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. There are all those socio-economic difficulties as well. Are we looking at this as a package or merely as a deterrent, or what is going on?
I and one of our colleagues here visited Tanzania just before Christmas with the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa, AWEPA. We were looking at deep sea fishing and the fact that there is no deterrent. There are no fishing vessels there and there had been support from the EU. That whole coastline, as part of the Indian Ocean, is being stripped of tuna. Is the package seen as part of that overall position or is it specifically a military response to a difficult situation there?
Operation ATALANTA is specifically about counteracting and preventing piracy and providing a significant deterrent for what had become a serious problem whereby ships, some of which were carrying World Food Programme aid, were under threat of being attacked and having their cargo robbed. It has been a successful mission. The number of acts of piracy in that part of the world has been significantly reduced as a result.
We could contribute probably in one of three ways. We could send a well-trained unit of approximately 20 personnel to be on World Food Programme cargo vessels, in effect as an armed guard at sea, we could send Air Corps personnel and an aircraft to improve the capacity in terms of surveillance in the area, or we could look at sending a fully crewed ship, for a period of three or four months, to participate in the work the fleet is doing there. We are weighing up all the options. I will certainly come back to the House if it will progress to a decision. There are different cost implications for different proposals and we are limited in terms of what we can afford to do at present.
Given the "Captain Phillips" film, it is in the media at present. People are aware of the difficulties and what happened there. Mainly, I want to find out whether this is a live issue or merely something that was floated before Christmas, and whether the Minister is looking seriously at this issue. The big concern will be the extent of the involvement in this mission.
I suppose there are issues. For example, if an Irish soldier arrests someone, where will that person be tried? Will the person be brought back to Ireland? In "Captain Phillips", the Americans brought them back to the United States. Will such a person be brought to The Hague? Will the person be tried in Somalia, which is run by warlords? Those are the factors related to the specifics of the mission. I accept that it is still only at the discussion phase, but anything new that involves Irish troops in a difficult situation needs to be discussed and thought out fully.
To reassure people, this is a mission that is working really well. The kind of questions Deputy Crowe is asking have been asked by many other countries before they would have participated in Operation ATALANTA. There is an efficient system working successfully to patrol off that part of Africa. The decision we must make is whether it is appropriate for Ireland to contribute to those positive efforts and fit in with that EU-led mission, whether we can afford to do it and whether we should do it.
The direct answer to Deputy Crowe's question is that we are looking seriously at this. I will have a full cost estimate within the next couple of weeks and then we will make a decision on the back of that. I stress there are many things I would like to do abroad in terms of a positive contribution the Defence Forces could make in different parts of the world around conflict resolution and peacekeeping work.
We must prioritise because we have limited resources. What I am assessing at the moment is whether we can afford to do this and whether we should do it in terms of contributing to a very successful mission that is already under way. One way or the other, by the time we have the next Question Time on defence, I will probably be able to say whether this is a real likelihood.
