Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020
362. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Defence the meaning of deployable and interoperable forces that can be used by participating member states within the EU framework for national needs relating to PESCO; if German and other troops could be used in Ireland in the event of civil disturbance, strikes and so on and would be under EU control; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40402/20]
View answer365. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Defence the position on the commitment to explore the possibility of common strategic planning, training and exercises of member states' armed forces, built on and supported by existing EU military tools, for example, the EU battle groups, and also other multinational structures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40405/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 362 and 365 together.
Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is a process under which groups of Member States can come together to develop capabilities in support of Common CSDP Operations. On a voluntary basis, 25 EU Member States have joined PESCO and subscribed to more binding commitments to invest, plan, develop and operate defence capabilities together within this EU framework.
Ireland's participation in PESCO was agreed by Government and approved by Dáil Éireann prior to the Council Decision establishing PESCO on 11 December 2017.
The objective of PESCO is to generate coherent defence capabilities which will be available to Member States including for deployment on multinational (EU, NATO, UN, etc.) missions and operations. For many of these missions, EU countries deploy alongside other EU countries and developing standardised or common capabilities improves the interoperability of these Forces. This will enhance the EU’s capacity as an international security actor, to contribute to the protection of EU citizens, support international peace and security and maximise the effectiveness of defence spending by participating Member States.
Commitments were made by participating Member States with regard to both deployability (for the realisation of the EU Level of Ambition under the EU Global Strategy) and interoperability (in terms of common technical and operational standards).
In order to further enhance the availability, readiness and interoperability of the EU member States military personnel, deployable on international crisis management or humanitarian operations, it has been recommended in the PESCO Strategic Review 2020 that participating Member States should explore “the possibility of common strategic planning, training and exercises of Member States' armed forces.”
This is not a commitment, but rather guidance which has been provided with the aim of aiding the fulfilment of the binding commitments undertaken by participating Member States in the context of PESCO by 2025 and in support of CSDP and the EU Global Strategy. In engaging with EU Battlegroup preparations, Member States already work together in areas of strategic planning, training and exercises. Indeed, Ireland has participated in planning and in desktop and field exercises in respect of a number of Battlegroups in which we have participated, alongside other Battlegroup participant forces. Participation in planning and exercises is an essential pre-deployment enabler for the Defence Forces in terms of their peace keeping operations. As such, there is no issue with the proposal in that this guidance simply seeks to encourage consideration of the current cooperation within the Battlegroup framework, being expanded on a broader scale.
As per Article 15 of the Constitution of Ireland, the right to raise and maintain military or armed forces is vested exclusively in the Oireachtas. No military or armed force, other than a military or armed force raised and maintained by the Oireachtas, shall be raised or maintained for any purpose whatsoever. This therefore prohibits foreign forces under foreign command operating in Ireland in any guise.
