Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 May 2021
52. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Defence if his Department has conducted an investigation into allegations by Defence Forces Chief of Staff that his Department released factually incorrect information in relation to the repatriation of two Irish soldiers from Myanmar. [23900/21]
View answerI can confirm that there are no Defence Forces personnel deployed in Myanmar. I assume the Deputy is referring to the MONUSCO mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
As part of its response to the global Covid pandemic, the United Nations Secretary General in April 2020, directed the suspension of all rotations and leave for military personnel serving in United Nations missions until 30 June 2020. The UN direction impacted over 100,000 UN uniformed personnel from over 120 countries serving world-wide, including Ireland and Defence Forces personnel serving with UN missions. The suspension was based on the protection of local communities as well as that of the peacekeepers during the Covid pandemic.
Two Defence Force personnel serving in the MONUSCO mission were due to complete their 6 months deployments in March/mid-April but were extended within the mission by a further month. This then brought them into the period when the UN suspended rotations in all UN missions due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The rotation of these personnel was further extended at mission level by a further three months.
As the deployment of the personnel to a sub-Saharan African country had been extended beyond their initial six month deployment, there was a requirement to extract them to allow for a national medical assessment of the officers. The officers in question returned to Ireland on Sunday, 31 May by commercial means.
This matter has been the subject of a number of recent FOI and media queries. An examination of the background documentation shows attempts to extract our personnel in a very dynamic and complex situation with changing diplomatic, medical, overflight, access and UN restrictions. Records released appropriately as part of FOI requests revealed some, but not all military information and advice. As a result any inference from comments in the documents released do not relay the full extent of the situation.
