I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the report by the Minister for Defence pursuant to section 4 of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, which was laid before the Dáil on 22 December 1998.
Overseas Missions: Motion.
Question put and agreed to.
I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the report by the Minister for Defence pursuant to section 4 of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, which was laid before the Dáil on Monday, 6 December 1999.
The contributions of the Minister and the party spokespersons for the Fine Gael Party, the Labour Party and the Green Party should not exceed 15 minutes and the contributions of each other Member should not exceed five minutes. Members may share time.
In accordance with section 4 of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, I wish to report on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Defence, Deputy Michael Smith, to the House on Irish military participation in United Nations missions in 1998. I am pleased to take this opportunity to put before the House an account of the proud contribution made by members of the Defence Forces in the various UN missions throughout the world.
I wish to refer first to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon – UNIFIL – which is our largest single overseas commitment and which has been much to the fore in the light of the tragic killing earlier this year of Private Billy Kedian who was serving with the 85th Irish Battalion. I will give a brief outline of the situation obtaining this year. As will be recalled, the Taoiseach, during the course of his visit to the Middle East from 17 to 21 January 1999, visited the troops serving with UNIFIL.
The situation in the UNIFIL area of operations was extremely tense in the earlier part of this year, resulting in an increased incidence of firings close to IRISHBATT positions. Firing close is the term used by UNIFIL to describe firing by any weapon that results in the impact of rounds or shrapnel near or close to a United Nations position, vehicle or persons. The most serious incident occurred on 31 May 1999 when UNIFIL Post 6-42 came under attack resulting in the death of Private William Kedian and the critical wounding of Private Ronald Rushe. All Members will join with me in again expressing the sympathy of the House to the family of Private Kedian and in wishing Private Rushe continued progress in his recovery to health.
My colleague, the Minister for Defence, visited the area from 20 to 22 June 1999 in order to see for himself the situation on the ground and, more importantly, to raise the seriousness of the prevailing security situation in the UNIFIL area of operation with both the Israeli and Lebanese authorities and to seek assurances that the reckless shelling of IRISHBATT positions by the Israeli Defence Force-De Facto Forces – IDF-DFF – which undoubtedly led to the death of Private Kedian would not recur. During the course of the visit, he met the Israeli Minister of Defence and also the Lebanese Minister of Defence, the latter in relation to ongoing hostile activity by the armed elements, Hizbollah. He sought assurances from both that there would not be a recurrence of the recent serious shelling incidents as well as other hostile activity. He indicated to both sides that, while Ireland is committed to the UNIFIL mission, where Defence Forces personnel have served since 1978, should there not be a cessation of such incidents, serious consideration would have to be given to the withdrawal of the Irish contingent.
In the weeks following the death of Private Kedian, while there was a general decrease in the number of firings close to Irish positions, there was a number of further serious incidents, including the dropping of a bomb from an Israeli air force jet several hundred metres from an Irish position as well as a direct mortar hit within an IRISHBATT post. In the latter incident it was most fortunate that there was no loss of life.
I will now turn to 1998, the subject of this report. During 1998 the Irish Battalion continued to carry out its mission by operating observation posts and checkpoints, by conducting extensive patrolling, maintaining a village presence and providing humanitarian assistance to a variety of worthy causes such as Tibnin orphanage and medical clinics in the local villages.
For most of 1998 the contingent strength was 610, consisting of a battalion of 531 personnel and 79 personnel at UNIFIL headquarters. Eight other countries besides Ireland continued to participate in UNIFIL.
During 1998 hostilities continued between the Israeli Defence Forces and its local Lebanese auxiliary, the De Facto Forces – DFF – on the one hand and armed elements who have proclaimed their resistance against the Israeli occupation on the other. The level of hostilities was higher in the latter half of the year. The armed elements employed small arms, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank missiles, recoilless rifles, rockets and explosive devices. They fired approximately 1,500 mortar rounds, rockets and anti-tank missiles during the reporting period. IDF-DFF, in response to attacks or in operations which they themselves initiated, employed artillery, mortars, tanks, helicopter gunships, fixed-wing aircraft and explosive devices. UNIFIL recorded more than 4,400 rounds of artillery, mortar, tank and missiles fired by IDF-DFF during 1998.
UNIFIL continued its efforts to limit the conflict and to protect the local inhabitants from the fighting. Through its network of checkpoints and observations posts and an active programme of patrolling as well as continuous contacts with the parties, the force did its best to prevent its area of operations from being used for hostile activities and to defuse situations that could lead to escalation. It also deployed, as necessary, to provide a measure of protection to villages and to farmers working in the fields.
During the year the Department of Foreign Affairs allocated £40,000 to IRISHBATT in respect of the provision of humanitarian assistance in the area. The main project which the Irish Battalion has been associated with is the orphanage in Tibnin. The orphanage was set up in 1975 and accommodates 77 children aged between five and 14.
During 1998 there was no significant change in the overall political situation and consequently the level of operational activity remained high. The armed elements continued to mount attacks regularly and in an unpredictable pattern. IDF losses were significant and these losses prompted heavy retaliation, thus continuing the cycle of violence. These attacks by armed elements and the Israeli Defence Force resulted in a large number of firings close to IRISHBATT positions and these were protested through UNIFIL headquarters to the Israeli authorities through the normal channels and as appropriate to United Nations headquarters New York.
It is our earnest hope that the renewed Middle East peace process will reach a successful outcome and that the day will soon be in prospect when UNIFIL will have fulfilled its mission and the deployment of the force will no longer be necessary. The recent agreement between President Arafat and Prime Minister Barak on implementation of the Wye Memorandum and on the opening of final status negotiations marks a new and more hopeful phase in the peace process.
The new Israeli Government declared its intention to withdraw its forces from Lebanon within a year. The legal situation is that UN Security Council Resolution 425 of 1978 requires Israel to end its presence in southern Lebanon. If this is to be achieved, the attitude adopted by Hizbollah and other armed Lebanese elements to the Israeli-backed South Lebanese Army and to Israel will be critical.
There is, however, an ongoing risk of an escalation of attacks against the South Lebanese Army in the area as part of a final push to ensure that the withdrawal is effected. This scenario may call for the possibility of a revision of the role of UNIFIL in a post-withdrawal situation. Developments, and in particular the evolving situation in the peace process overall, will be monitored closely in terms of their influence on the possible future role for UNIFIL in the re-establishment of Lebanese sovereignty over its territory mandated by the UN. I might also mention that Brigadier General James Sreenan was appointed Deputy Force Commander, UNIFIL, in May of this year.
During 1998, Ireland provided 30 military personnel to the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus, UNFICYP – six officers and 24 NCOs served with the contingent. Three officers and five NCOs filled staff appointments at force headquarters, with a camp command component of three officers and 19 NCOs. The mandate for the force is "To use its best efforts to prevent a recurrence of fighting and, as necessary, to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law and order and a return to normal conditions".
The principal task of UNFICYP is the maintenance of a buffer zone between the line of the Cypriot National Guard and the Turkish-Cypriot forces. Since October 1999, the number of personnel on this mission has been reduced to five, in line with a strength reduction programme being implemented by the UN. UNFICYP recommended that the Irish contingent be reduced to 14 all ranks by the middle of 1999. The further reduction was decided on in the context of a rebalancing of the Defence Forces' overseas commitments.
In July 1997 the House approved participation by the Defence Forces in the Stabilisation Force-Bosnia Herzegovina, SFOR. This mission is NATO led but operates under a United Nations Security Council mandate. During 1998 the Defence Forces contribution comprised a military police contingent of 50 personnel. The contingent forms part of the international military police company at SFOR headquarters in Sarajevo. A liaison officer is based at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, SHAPE, in Mons, Belgium. In June 1999 the Government approved continued participation by the Defence Forces in SFOR for a further period of 12 months to June 2000.
The experience of the Defence Forces to date in this mission has been very positive. Thankfully, there have been no serious incidents involving Irish personnel in SFOR except for the unfortunate incident on 28 April 1999 when Corporal Lorraine Coss sustained shrapnel injuries arising from an explosion at Ilidza Camp, SFOR headquarters, where she was on guard duty. The explosion occurred while a local civilian was attempting to lower into a protective bunker outside the camp some unexploded mines which he had retrieved. Corporal Coss returned to duty on 31 May 1998.
Ireland's commitment to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation in the Middle East, UNTSO, is 11 officers. We have participated in this mission since 1958. Our UNTSO observers are currently based in Israel, Syria and Lebanon. UNTSO's main tasks today are concerned with the conflict between Israel and Lebanon and Israel and Syria working closely with UNIFIL and UNDOF, the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. It also maintains a presence in Egypt, although this front is generally quiet.
The UNDOF mission began in 1974 following the ceasefire in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria. Its mission is to use its best efforts to maintain the ceasefire and to see that it is scrupulously observed. Lieutenant General David Stapleton, now Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, served as Force Commander of UNDOF from June 1997 until August 1998. No other members of the Defence Forces served with this mission during 1998 or have since served.
Ireland had one officer serving in the United Nations Military Observers Prevlaka, UNMOP, mission during 1998. He was based in Dubrovnik. Under the terms of the Dayton Agreement this mission monitors the demilitarisation of the Prevlaka Peninsula and ensure freedom of movement into and out of Kotor Bay. An officer continues to serve there.
The system known as the United Nations Standby Arrangement is intended to enhance the United Nations' capacity for rapid response to emergency situations. On 15 October 1998, my colleague, the Minister for Defence, signed, on behalf of Ireland, a Memorandum of Understanding with the UN in relation to Defence Forces participation in UNSAS. Participation in UNSAS does not involve an obligation to participate in any particular mission and, as at present, Dáil approval will be required for the dispatch of a contingent of the Defence Forces to specific operation. The decision to participate in UNSAS is a tangible expression of Ireland's continuing commitment to involvement in peacekeeping operations.
Notwithstanding the considerable undertaking which it represents in financial and personnel terms, the Government remains committed, with due regard to the safety of our troops, to the principle of military participation in UN peacekeeping operations in the cause of international peace. While no guarantees can be given with regard to the safety of troops serving in any mission overseas, it is policy to ensure that Defence Forces personnel are adequately trained and equipped to carry out their mission. In this regard my colleague the Minister for Defence is satisfied that the role of Defence Forces personnel serving overseas is in keeping with their training and experience to date. There was no loss of life or serious injury suffered by Irish personnel serving in the missions mentioned during the year under report, that is 1998. I mentioned earlier the injury suffered by Corporal Lorraine Coss while serving with SFOR.
Ireland continues to build on a long tradition of service to the founding principles of the UN by making practical commitments of personnel on a continuing basis. As well as the extensive involvement of Irish military personnel in UN peacekeeping operations, a number of senior military officers have, down the years, served with distinction in senior appointments in UN missions. As I mentioned earlier, Lieutenant General David Stapleton served as Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in Syria from June 1997 to August 1998. Brigadier General James Sreenan was appointed earlier this year as Deputy Force Commander, UNIFIL and Brigadier General John Vize took up appointment on 1 December 1999 as Force Commander of UNIKOM, United Nations Iraq/Kuwait Observer Mission. These appointments bring prestige and honour not only to the Defence Forces but to the country.
I pay tribute to all those members of the Defence Forces who have served and who continue to serve on UN peacekeeping missions. I also pay tribute to the members of An Garda Síochána for the excellent contribution which that force makes to the cause of international peace by their participation in overseas missions.
Ireland's willingness to participate in missions is motivated as much by a firm belief in the moral obligation which rests on the shoulders of the international community to support the UN in its tireless efforts in conflict prevention and peacekeeping in troubled spots as by our sense of outrage at the infliction of suffering on our fellow human beings. Above all, it is motivated by our firm conviction that we must stand beside other nations who respond and play our part.
I welcome the opportunity to hear the outline of the work of the Defence Forces in peacekeeping operations in 1998 and I thank the Minister of State. If we are to continue this proud tradition it is critical that the Government White Paper on Defence should be published immediately. The Taoiseach should confirm to the House that the strength of the Defence Forces will be maintained at the current level of 11,500. The Defence Forces need to be maintained at this level if we are to continue the record of service which the Minister has outlined in the report. He has outlined our contribution in Lebanon, Cyprus, Kosovo, East Timor and in many other countries. If we are to continue this service it is essential that there is clarity regarding Defence Forces numbers. Recent reports about a reduction in the strength of the Defence Forces place a serious question mark over our ability to play a full role in such missions in the future. Of that there is no doubt. Rumours that the Department of Finance is aiming to reduce numbers to 10,700 have been allowed to circulate unchecked. The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Stapleton, has already made it clear that any reduction in the bottom-line figure of 11,500 would mean we could not meet our commitments abroad. It is very unfortunate that the White Paper has become a vehicle to play a numbers game as opposed to charting an appropriate defence policy for the future.
It is all very well to praise the work of the Defence Forces abroad and they should be praised. However, we must look at the background against which the Minister comes to the House to outline the work of the Defence Forces. It is a background of unchecked rumours about the future of the Defence Forces and a lack of implementation of the Price Waterhouse report on the future of the Navy and Air Corps. The Minister's praise means very little if he does not give a strong and consistent message to the Defence Forces. Our praise for their work abroad must be balanced by appropriate support and confidence in them and in Government policy.
The Minister should be very clear about the numbers in the Defence Forces. If he does not agree to the number of 11,500 he will have failed the Defence Forces and the country's reputation internationally. The consequences of a decision to reduce the numbers below that level could be very serious within the Defence Forces. I call on the Minister and the Taoiseach to intervene to ensure that the bottom-line figure is maintained and we are allowed to continue the proud tradition the Minister has outlined. The prevarication should stop now because it undermines the morale of the Defence Forces, it affects our international peace keeping and will continue to do so in the future.
The Defence Forces are one of the most analysed groups in the country. There have been three internal audit group reports. There has been agreement to reduce numbers from 14,500 to 11,500. This dramatic reduction has been implemented over a period of three years. It has been achieved through voluntary early retirement and natural wastage. The Defence Forces can be very proud of the way this change has been managed. However, to use the White Paper as a further opportunity to reduce numbers is outrageous, particularly as the Government has agreed to our participation in Partnership for Peace. We have entered Partnership for Peace and have signed up for the Petersberg Tasks which will make demands on our Defence Forces. Yet, we allow uncertainty about Defence Forces numbers to continue. This is not satisfactory and is very damaging.
On behalf of the Fine Gael Party, I pay tribute to the members of the Defence Forces who have served overseas. One cannot talk about this work without referring to the tragic death of private Kedian and the injury to private Ronald Rushe. Everyone joins the Minister in expressing sympathy to the family of private Kedian and good wishes to private Rushe who is making a recovery.
Having seen the work in Lebanon I know we do not appreciate sufficiently the dangerous situations in which our troops often find themselves, the great difficulties they must surmount and the discipline they bring to their work. It is good to see that more and more people are visiting our Defence Forces abroad. I welcome the visit of the Taoiseach to the troops. The visit by the select committee was the first by a committee of the House to the troops in Lebanon. It is important they are aware of the appreciation that is felt in the House for their work abroad. They are tremendous ambassadors for the country and are in the service of peace keeping which is becoming more and more important in the world. The need for peace keeping and enforcement has never been so great and I say that with a degree of regret because of the great amount of conflict in the world. The conditions faced by our troops in Kosovo are quite difficult. I recently spoke to some people who were involved in that mission and I know they are facing difficult conditions. They must provide security for a population under threat and help them survive with very basic living standards and in very difficult circumstances. This is not an easy task but it is one which the Irish people are glad to see our troops undertaking.
It would be hard to speak today without referring to the massacre of the innocents in Chechnya which we have seen on our TV screens in recent days. It seems as if Russian forces are remorselessly pouring tons of high explosives on the Chechnyans and have delivered a "get out or die" ultimatum to the unfortunate people of Grozny, leaving unspecified just how they are to achieve safe passage through the barrage of high explosives that is reducing their city to smouldering rubble. This puts into stark relief the difficulties faced by some people in the world today and highlights the importance of training, preparing, educating and supporting our Defence Forces to be part of the solution of these conflicts. It is clear that the conflicts that our troops are helping to deal with have almost all been intra-state conflicts. Most conflicts of the past decade have been internal and we have seen the collapse of civic society in many of these situations. It is important that the vacuum that is filled in these conflict situations should not be filled by private quasi-militias who are not accountable to anybody. If we do not have proper peace keeping this will happen.
The easy availability of arms feeds these conflicts. Arms are available very cheaply. A machine gun which can wreak havoc on a civilian population can be bought for $15. It is important that we play a role in security through international peacekeeping. It is good to see the UN attempting to tackle the arms issue as well.
If Ireland is to maintain its reputation as a responsible member of the international community it must ensure that it makes good the deficits in investment in our national defence infrastructure. It is clear that the resources of the Defence Forces are inadequate to continue its work in international peacekeeping. The recent order by the Minister for APCs will be of assistance but that will take some time to come on stream. We should do more to equip the Defence Forces adequately for peacekeeping operations.
Fine Gael has long argued for providing enhanced logistical, signals, police, transport and medical support to peacekeeping operations. It is most important to ensure that the units we despatch are adequately resourced. As peacekeeping work changes, it is clear that the defence forces which contribute will have to bring their own equipment and be adequately resourced. The international community will not resource peacekeeping units. They will have to be resourced and that means a further commitment from the State. Sometimes we are a little ambivalent about this. On the one hand we claim that we wish to take part in peacekeeping and that we are proud of our peacekeeping record while on the other hand there is reluctance to equip the Defence Forces properly to do the tasks demanded of them.
Ireland should have been able to send more troops to Kosovo. We should have sent more than just a transport unit even though we had to borrow the lorries to train the members of the unit before they departed. That is not good enough. We must be able to give a greater commitment. We must deal with shortages in the medical and engineering sections because the greatest demand abroad is for these specialist services. Equally, we must continue Defence Forces training in human rights. When our troops leave these areas they wish to leave a strong legacy of protection of human rights. We should highlight the importance of human rights in development.
I welcome the start that has been made in resourcing the Defence Forces for future missions in support of civic society. However, it is not enough simply to provide such basic and long overdue equipment as the recently contracted APCs. We need a vision for the future of the Defence Forces and that vision should be given realistic support. We must remove the doubt and uncertainty hanging over the Defence Forces at present with regard to the total numbers. This is the least we owe our international peacekeepers.
We should not assume that the continued rumour, innuendo and comment about reducing numbers does not have an effect on those serving abroad. It has a most demoralising effect. It has a demoralising effect on members offering to go abroad to carry out international peacekeeping. This must be addressed immediately by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Defence.
I welcome the opportunity presented by this short debate on the annual reports under section 4 of the 1993 Act to pay tribute to the men and women of the Defence Forces who have given such loyal and dedicated service to the United Nations in trouble spots throughout the world and who daily put their safety and lives at risk in the cause of peace.
As Deputy Fitzgerald said, there are major problems in relation to morale in the Defence Forces due to uncertainty about the numbers being dictated by the Department of Defence and the Department of Finance. In debating these reports and paying tribute to the troops it would be wrong not to acknowledge that the debate is taking place against the background of a serious crisis of morale in the Defence Forces. There is the ongoing controversy about Army deafness claims, for which the Minister must accept a great share of the blame, delays in dealing with re-equipping, continuing dissatisfaction with pay and conditions, the failure to produce the long promised White Paper, uncertainty about the status of recommendations in the Price Waterhouse report and reports from the Department of Finance which seek to reduce Defence Forces personnel by 3,000.
It is impossible to imagine how we are to maintain our status as peacekeepers if the Defence Forces are to be reduced by 3,000, as demanded by the Department of Finance. It is not feasible that the Department of Defence accept it. The Minister and the Taoiseach should rectify this problem as a matter of urgency. On many occasions, particularly during Question Time, I have asked the Minister about his contacts with the representative bodies, PDFORRA and RACO. It appears that it is only when the Minister wishes to put something forward that he meets with either representative body. He does not meet them to find out about ongoing problems in the Defence Forces. His Department officials conduct such meetings. The Minister is responsible for morale in the Defence Forces and I cannot understand why there are not regular meetings between him and the two representative bodies.
It is unacceptable that the report for 1998 was not available in the Oireachtas Library until lunchtime today. This is a report for a period that ended almost 12 months ago. This debate was sought by the Minister for Defence last week and was agreed by the Whips yet Deputies still did not have access to the report until a few hours before the debate started. No fault attaches to the staff of the Library. This is the responsibility of the Minister and the House is due an explanation and an apology.
Twice in the past year the House has sanctioned the participation of Irish troops in new operations – in Kosovo and East Timor. The locations in which Irish troops are serving listed in the report is a list of the trouble spots of the world. Some are places where trouble has erupted only in recent years, such as the former Yugoslavia or East Timor. Others are places where there have been long running and unresolved disputes, such as Cyprus and the Middle East. Others are locations where the problems may have slipped from the front pages of the newspapers, such as Afghanistan or Kuwait, but where the presence of UN observers is crucial to the maintenance of peace.
It is 40 years since Irish troops first went abroad to serve with the United Nations. For a small country, Ireland has made an enormous contribution. Almost 10% of our personnel are serving abroad. Ireland is the sixth largest provider of troops to UN peace missions. In the course of four decades this country has paid a high price in terms of the commitment of both financial resources and personnel to the pursuit of world peace. However, this pales into insignificance compared to the price paid by the Defence Forces personnel who were killed or injured in the course of these operations.
The area that has taken the greatest toll in terms of personnel and casualties is the Lebanon. It is more than 20 years since UNIFIL was established and tens of thousands of Irish troops have served there in the intervening period. The details in the report about the death of Private William Kedian last May and the injuries sustained by Privates Rush and Clarke in the same incident and the death of Sergeant John Lynch and the serious injury sustained by Private Gary Moloney during 1997 illustrate the type of dangers faced daily by our troops serving with the UN. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their willingness to put themselves in danger in the interests of bringing peace to the trouble spots of the world.
Our troops in the Lebanon have found themselves in a particularly difficult situation, caught between the two conflicting sides. Most of the casualties and difficulties for Irish troops in the Lebanon have come about as a result of the activities of the Israeli backed SLA or what are referred to in these reports as the "de facto forces”. It is unacceptable that a government with whom we maintain friendly relations should arm, train and finance those who are harassing and attacking our troops. Representations have been made by the Government to the Israeli authorities on this matter and it is essential that this pressure is maintained.
The Minister said on 19 October that between January and December 1998, 102 firings were recorded at or close to the Irish UNIFIL positions. He said the bulk of these were by the de facto forces. Everyone recognises the difficult security situation faced by the Israelis and the horrific terrorist attacks to which they have been subjected over the years, but this cannot and does not justify a policy of tolerating and encouraging attacks on our troops.
One can only hope that the improving situation in the Middle East will continue and that it will not be too long before Irish troops and the entire UNIFIL force can be withdrawn. The progress being made in the implementation of the agreement between Israel and the Palestinians provides grounds for hope. Even more encouraging is the announcement within the past 24 hours that Israel and Syria are to resume negotiations on a peace treaty in Washington next week.
There is an obligation on our Government not just to provide political and moral support for our forces with the United Nations but also to ensure that when Irish troops serve abroad on peacekeeping operations they have the equipment and training necessary to guarantee the maximum possible level of safety and security. I know that training is not a problem as Irish troops have always been well prepared for operations abroad, and this is acknowledged by the respect for them which is held by other contingents with which they have served.
However, the situation regarding equipment is much less satisfactory. In this regard the long delays in providing the Army with modern armoured personnel carriers is especially unfortunate. Troops in an area like this cannot rely on trucks and jeeps alone. The shortage of adequate equipment has meant that Irish troops serving abroad have had to some extent to depend on other contingents for protection. This is not operationally desirable and neither is it good for morale.
If we want our troops to play an active role in peacekeeping operations throughout the world, we will have to provide them with the resources and equipment to enable them to do so. Money is available and I urge the Government to expedite the delivery of the long promised armoured personnel carriers.
There have also been reports that there has been difficulty in attracting sufficient volunteers to meet our requirements for UNIFIL, and the matter of allowing members of the FCA to serve abroad has been raised on a number of occasions. This has been under consideration for some time, but despite having raised the matter on several occasions with the Minister through parliamentary questions, I have still to determine his views on the matter or to establish when a decision will be made.
Another issue which arises in regard to our participation in peacekeeping operations is that substantial amounts of money are still due to this country from the UN. The Minister for Foreign Affairs told the Dáil last week that Ireland is owed £8.3 million for the cost of providing Irish personnel to UN peacekeeping missions abroad. This debt arises from our participation in Lebanon and Cyprus, because we are responsible for our own expenses in other cases. The financial problems of the United Nations arise from the failure of a number of member states, especially the United States, to discharge their debts to the organisation. Despite its shortcomings, the United Nations has played a valuable role in limiting conflict throughout the world. It is wrong that some countries, which are happy to use the United Nations when its suits their own political agendas, should at the same time restrict the potential of the organisation by refusing to pay their way.
On occasions such as this, there is usually a queue of people to pay tribute to the Defence Forces. I am sure the members of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps would be more impressed by a serious effort to end the uncertainties and deal with their problems. Unfortunately, this Minister does not inspire confidence among members of the Defence Forces that he has the will to deal with these prob lems. We will pay a price if these problems are allowed to continue. The Minister must act.
It is important that a definite decision is made about the numbers in the Defence Forces. This is the one matter undermining the confidence of all units of the Defence Forces at present. A situation cannot continue where the media is drip-fed figures which the Departments of Defence and Finance deny. Despite these denials, the media seem to be constantly drip-fed figures which constitute the final figure for the Defence Forces. These are always well below the predetermined figure of 11,500 which has been accepted by the representative bodies. If we are to continue to spread our good name abroad, the situation cannot persist where we do not have the personnel to go to the unfortunate trouble spots which are the cause of so much concern for the unfortunate people who live there.
The Minister for Defence, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance must make a final decision on this matter. We will either act as a unit to ensure the morale of the Defence Forces is restored to what it should be or we will forget about the United Nations obligations of this country. It must be one or the other. Matters cannot be allowed to continue as they are at present. The most important matter is to ensure that the morale of the Defence Forces is restored.
The development and expansion of our peacekeeping role internationally was one of the strongest arguments advanced in the House for our membership of Partnership for Peace. The equipment of our forces and the experience they would gain in that international Partnership for Peace was canvassed here and publicly by members at senior officer level in the Army. We were told that, to explore and fully develop the role of our peacekeeping troops, we should and would join Partnership for Peace, so the House resolved that we do so.
As we debate our international peacekeeping function in the calm freedom and peace of the House, one of our partners for peace is pummelling the unfortunate victims and innocent civilians of Grozny and Chechnya with the weaponry of death. Our partners for peace are ineffective and helpless to do anything about it, despite the fact that we have a commitment to real partnership for peace. On every occasion when this issue arose, I expressed my rejection and abhorrence of the worldwide export and delivery of armaments by the major powers, and I expressed that reservation not once but five or six times until the end of the Partnership for Peace debate. Unfortunately, it is not just a question of the delivery or export of armaments. One of our partners for peace, Russia, is delivering armaments in a more vicious and deadly fashion than anyone in the House was prepared to acknowledge could happen.
It is time our voice was raised if we are to continue to be respected as an independent country which is concerned for peace and which, while engaging in Partnership for Peace, will do everything it can on every possible occasion to reject and repudiate the notion that, within that family of Partnership for Peace, our partners are free not only to export arms but to deliberately export death to innocent civilians and threaten them if they do not leave their homes. We are talking about children, old people and the disabled who have neither the ability nor the capacity to leave to avoid the consequences.
I had strong reservations about Partnership for Peace. I recall it being asked of us in the House why we should have reservations when even Russia was a member of Partnership for Peace. This was another good argument for our joining the family of nations. We now find that Russia is literally pummelling innocent people with the weaponry of death and that there is nothing we can do about it. We can talk about our various organisations and commitments to UNIFIL, and say we are making great contributions, something I acknowledge, but we are totally and utterly powerless. Whatever Minister represents us in that organisation should at the first possible opportunity insist that the membership of Russia, or any other country which behaves in such a totally offensive fashion, be suspended. They should be dismissed from an organisation we are pleased to join as partners in peace – some partnership, some peace. The innocent women and children of Grozny must be impressed with the fact that our partners for peace are literally delivering the weaponry of death as we speak.
Paddy Ashdown, a prominent member of the British Parliament, quoted Thomas Aquinas last night in justifying the fact that the international community was not imposing sanctions on Russia. He said that the test of a just war should be that test of Thomas Aquinas, the third and final part of which is that there is some prospect of success. He said there would be no prospect of success in this case. Are we now importing a new principle into our principles of international morality, namely, that we are prepared to go along with people who say that those who are big enough, strong enough and powerful enough can deliver in whatever fashion they like the weaponry of death and obliterate innocent civilians because we can do nothing about it?
Hear, hear.
We owe it to those people who always look to Ireland as being consistent at least not to desist until Russia is suspended from the organisation and that any other partner for peace who acts entirely contrary to our stated position—
Will Deputy O'Kennedy give way as I wish to say how wholeheartedly I agree with him?
I am always happy to give way to my good colleague, Deputy Higgins. Without doubt I know exactly what his position is on this and other issues of fundamental international morality or, in this case, totally amorality.
I believe that what is happening in Chechnya requires a moral comment. It is unusual but perhaps one of the finer things in the House that there are principles upon which we have cross-party agreement. Deputy O'Kennedy and I are in agreement in our views on the armaments industry, the build up of militarism as a substitute for diplomatic practice and these appalling and immoral silences when ultimatums are given to populations which are simply not acceptable.
It is absolutely outrageous as we come to the end of the century and the millennium that people are suggesting on the one hand that the civilian population must vacate their homes so as to make space for a military strike, while on the other hand claiming that the strike can be done without civilian casualties. We have listened to this appalling and barbarous set of lies in all of the recent conflicts where there have been civilian casualties, with damage to water systems and other basic infrastructure being described as collateral damage. In fact it is destroying human beings and what sustains them in terms of infrastructure. I am a democrat and this House made its decision and it behoves us to speak out loudly about that which is unacceptable.
Hear, hear.
I am delighted that this issue has been raised in view of what is threatened over the weekend.
Question put and agreed to.