Vol. 480 No. 8
5 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Defence the strength of the Irish contingent serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon; the number of Defence Forces personnel who are currently volunteers for service to replace this contingent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15199/97]
The current strength of the Irish contingent serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon is 611. A similar number of personnel have volunteered for service with the next contingent, the first element of which is due to depart for Lebanon later this month. A further number of volunteers are on standby should they be required.
I understand there is a difficulty with the recruitment of volunteers for the UNIFIL battalion due to go overseas in the middle of October. Will the Minister comment on that?
The Deputy, a respected former Army officer who has probably served in Lebanon, is correct. Difficulty has been experienced in the recent past in attracting large numbers of volunteers for United Nations services in that part of the world. That is a reflection of the high age profile of serving members and the fact that many members of the Defence Forces previously served with UNIFIL on a number of occasions. However, the measures taken arising out of the Defence Forces review implementation plan, that is the recruitment of young people and the VER scheme, has alleviated that particular problem to a great extent, if not completely. A total of 800 new recruits have been enlisted in the Defence Forces since December and it is my intention to continue that recruitment programme until such time as we get the age profile to a reasonable level.
The Minister said earlier that service in UNIFIL was a great morale boost and that the service had received great praise. It is no secret that over recent years difficulties have been experienced in fulfilling the required number of personnel for this service. A private soldier receives an allowance of £26 per day when he arrives in Lebanon. Will the Minister consider extending that allowance to the pre-departure date because personnel are away from home for six months, but before they depart this country they are formed up for six to eight weeks at great inconvenience to their families? That is one of the main reasons difficulties have been experienced recruiting the required number of personnel. A practice has developed in recent years whereby personnel come home from Lebanon for two weeks, having served six months, and then return. That is not desirable from their point of view or that of the new unit. Also, what contingency plans, if any, do we have in place if sufficient volunteers are not recruited? What if only 500 people volunteer and our commitment is to provide 611? Does the Minister have any contingency plans in place?
I cannot force people to go anywhere and it would never be my intention to do so. If it came to the point where people decided they did not want to go to Lebanon, and we could not fulfil our obligations to the United Nations, it would be a sad day for the country. As for contingency plans, we have people on standby if any of the 611 personnel due to depart decide not to fulfil that commitment for one reason or another. That is a contingency plan of a sort but as for forcing people to go somewhere in the name of Ireland, that is not my style. We can only request people to go on a voluntary basis. The people who have gone to Lebanon — some have travelled on a number of occasions — have served with distinction and honour despite the conditions. In the recent past we had the tragic death of Sergeant John Lynch, and once more my sympathy goes out to John's widow Rosario and her two children. That is indicative of the quality service we have come to expect. I cannot answer the Deputy's question in any other way.
The question of pay and allowances has always been a matter of concern for members of the Defence Forces serving abroad. It is a matter I am trying to address having regard to the exigencies of the time, but I am not unaware of the problem nor am I unaware of the dissatisfaction that prevails in that regard.
To the best of my knowledge there is a section in the Defence Act, 1960 which gives authority to the Minister to detail people for police type duty.
As far as I can avoid it I will not be exercising that power.
If we have reached the point where there is some difficulty in recruiting personnel for Lebanon, will the Minister agree that highlights the need to pay serious attention to the whole recruitment issue? Obviously, the Minister cannot force anybody to go abroad but it is something the Army would wish to do in order to fulfil duty requirements in Lebanon or other UN missions. It is not about forcing people to go abroad but rather about the need for ongoing recruitment and a fresh input by officers and men who are not repeating a six-month tour of duty in the Lebanon.
Eight hundred new recruits have been enlisted in the Defence Forces since December and further personnel will be recruited as the need arises. It is intended that in the future recruitment will be on a more continuous basis rather than on the stop-go basis pursued by the previous Government. I was also guilty of pursuing this policy when I was in this manifestation in a previous Government. The upper age for recruitment has been reduced from 27 to 21 years. This measure, together with the ER scheme, will help to address the high age profile within the Defence Forces.
The strength required for the next Irish UNIFIL contingent is 620 personnel, of which 68 are officer appointments. All officer appointments have been filled for the next contingent which is due to depart later this month. The selection of volunteers from other ranks personnel, of which there are approximately 700, will be completed by the military authorities on 30 October, the date of activation of the contingent. The military authorities are satisfied that the full complement of contingent numbers will be met. The current strength of the Irish contingent serving with UNIFIL is 611, while the strength last April was 619. The reduction in strength is due to the tragic death of Sergeant Lynch, permanent reparations on compassionate grounds and for family, health and other reasons. I am not greatly worried about our ability to fulfil our requirements in regard to UNIFIL. Our record over the years has been distinguished and I believe our future record will be equally so.
