Vol. 436 No. 6
8 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Defence if he intends meeting with the UN Secretary General to discuss whether it is proposed to continue the policy of using UN troops, including Irish troops, in peace enforcement missions in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
9 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Defence if he intends meeting with the UN Secretary General to discuss whether it is proposed to continue the policy of using UN troops, including Irish troops, in peace enforcement missions in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
25 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Defence if he intends meeting with the UN General Secretary to discuss whether it is proposed to continue the policy of using UN troops, including Irish troops, in peace enforcement missions in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 9 and 25 together.
The sole current involvement of Irish troops in UN peace enforcement missions is the provision of a transport company to UNOSOM II in Somalia. This commitment will expire at the end of February 1994 and the question of its continuance beyond that date will be reviewed beforehand. Moreover, as required by section 4 of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, I shall be making a report to this House on the operation of the mission as soon as may be in the new year.
There is at present no request from the UN for this country to contribute troops to any other peace enforcement operation. Any such request would receive due consideration.
In my question I asked the Minister if he intends meeting with the UN Secretary General to discuss the whole question of peace enforcement. Will the position of the Irish Government change as a result of the US decision to withdraw its 25,000 troops from Somalia in March next? Would he agree that the whole concept of peace enforcement is in danger if a large country such as the US does not provide troops to carry out such a mission?
I have no plans to visit the United Nations Secretary General, but should the need arise in relation to any issues affecting Irish involvement in the operations I would do so immediately. As the Deputy knows, in advance of the 80 man transport unit going to Somalia I visited the area to see first hand the difficulties to be anticipated, and that would be my mind-set in relation to the question raised by the Deputy. As regards non-participation by the United States, we are a sovereign nation and we must make our decisions independently of other countries. I agree that United States withdrawal would leave a vacuum, but I understand from the contemporary literature on Somalia that there is a general trend towards what might be described as the Africanisation of the mission. I am not sure that is a good principle but it is the general thinking at present.
Section 4 of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, requires me to report to the House on the up-to-date position of the mission in Somalia and I will do that. The troops are doing an excellent job in Somalia and are performing exceptionally well, as have all our troops since taking up peace-keeping duties in 1958. I would like to think that our troops would continue to operate in Somalia for the foreseeable future.
I recently had reason to visit the UN with the other members of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and I got the distinct impression that the whole concept of peace enforcement is being very carefully considered in light of what has happened to date in Somalia. For that reason my question relates not only to Somalia but to the whole concept of peace enforcement. Would the Minister agree that in view of the deserved reputation of the Irish in terms of involvement in UN activities, it would be a good idea for him to have the benefit, as we had, of discussing the whole concept of peace enforcement in the United Nations before coming back to this House in February with a recommendation? Would he agree that the concept of peace enforcement cannot be pursued without involvement of a country such as the United States which has the military power and numbers to supply the troops, not only for transport reasons but, if necessary, for day to day combat reasons? Therefore, this whole concept should be carefully considered. I respectfully suggest that the Minister visit the United Nations to discuss this whole concept before reporting back to the House.
This is a matter that I cannot dismiss lightly and I will certainly consider it. My philosophy always has been that the Defence Forces should be seen primarily in a peace-keeping context. The 1993 Act was introduced to give effect to a request from the United Nations to become involved, for the first time in the history of our country, in a mission of a different type. We responded to that request because I thought it was very important that we do so. In relation to peace-keeping generally, the political direction is the one to take. In Somalia the military option was taken, the pursuit of Adid and so on, and that was the wrong course of action. If there is a political solution to the problem in a peace-keeping context we should pursue it.
