Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2022
530. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Defence the number of instances in which members of the Army Ranger wing accompanied and-or provided security to an Taoiseach and or Ministers outside of the State in 2021 and to date in 2022. [37897/22]
View answerClose protection teams comprising members of the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) are assigned to accompany members of Government, where warranted, on visits to overseas missions in which Defence Forces personnel are deployed.
I can confirm that members of the ARW accompanied and provided close protection to the Taoiseach and/or Ministers on visits outside of the State in 2021 and to date in 2022 on the following three occasions:
- In July 2021 and in December 2021 the ARW provided security protection for my visits to Irish troops serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
- In May 2022 the ARW provided security protection for the visit of the Taoiseach, accompanied by me, to members of the Defence Forces deployed to UNIFIL.
