Seán Ryan
Ceist:36 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Defence if, in view of concerns expressed about some selections for overseas duty, he will publish the criteria for selection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28708/00]
Other Questions. - Overseas Duty.
The criteria for selection of volunteers for overseas service are broadly as follows: competence and suitability, professional expertise, recommendations from reporting officers, seniority, health and age as well as family and social considerations. The Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1960, provides that an officer appointed or a man enlisted after the date of its passing is liable to serve outside the State with a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force despatched for service with international forces established by the United Nations. With the passage of time since 1960 all personnel of the Permanent Defence Force are now liable for such service.
Under the 1960 Act service with an international United Nations force was confined to a force established for the performance of duties of a police character. The Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, dispensed with this requirement. Anyone entering the Permanent Defence Force on or after 1 July 1993 is liable for service under the new arrangements. However, we have relied practically entirely on volunteers to date.
The Government's policy of continuous recruitment to the Defence Forces has resulted in recent times in a significant increase in the number of volunteers for overseas service. However, due to organisational changes in the Irish Battalion in Lebanon to reflect new operational requirements in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon following the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon in May of this year, it was necessary to detail two technical officers and 31 other ranks for service with the 88th Infantry Battalion. The 31 personnel comprised 20 technical personnel and 11 line personnel. Personnel deployed recently to all other missions have been drawn from volunteers.
The President of RACO, in his address to that body's conference in Kilkenny, expressed concern about the fact that the criteria for selection were not published. It is obvious that there is concern within RACO regarding the process of selection for overseas service. Have representations been made by RACO to the Department in relation to those concerns?
The Deputy will probably not blame me for not responding to everything the President of RACO said on that occasion.
The paint was blistering.
The selection of personnel is done under an operations order from the Chief of Staff. Until this contingent was picked it was based primarily on volunteers; this was one of the first occasions that a number had to be detailed. This occurred because of the specific nature of this assignment and the changes since Israeli forces withdrew back to the border. But for the fact that the Government introduced continuous recruitment and that 40% of contingents are now going for the first time, we would have had extreme difficulty filling the contingents. In fairness to the men and women concerned, we are there 23 years and serving soldiers have gone 12, 14 and 16 times. That amounts to eight years of their lives and is a huge contribution. That is one of the reasons I have signalled our intention to withdraw when circumstances permit. It has been a drain and were it not for the many new recruits it would have been much more difficult. This is primarily a matter for the Chief of Staff; he is responsible for the operations order for the selection of personnel to go overseas.