Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 13 Feb 2002

Vol. 548 No. 3

Written Answers. - Overseas Missions.

David Stanton

Ceist:

49 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence the number of Defence Forces personnel serving overseas; the locations and numbers in each location; the commitments to be met in 2002; the involvement and interaction regarding Partnership for Peace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4796/02]

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

128 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence the number of locations at which Irish security personnel are located overseas on foot of a UN mandate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5015/02]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith):

I propose to take Questions 49 and 128 together.

The total number of Defence Forces personnel currently serving overseas is 511. Full details are set out in the form of a tabular statement.

Overseas with effect from 6 February 2002

1.	UN Missions
	(i) UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon)	11
	(ii) UNTSO (United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation) – Israel, Syria and Lebanon	11
	(iii) UNFICYP (United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus)	6
	(iv) UNIKOM (United Nations Iraq Kuwait Observer Mission)	6
	(v) MINURSO (United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara)	3
	(vi) UNMIK (United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo)	3
	(vii) UNMOP (United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka)	2
	(viii) UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor)	44
	(ix) UNMEE (United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea)	218
	(x) MONUC (United Nations Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo)	2

	UN Mandated Missions
	(ix) SFOR (Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina)SFOR HQ Sarajevo	56
	(x) KFOR (International Security Presence in Kosovo)	108
	Total number of personnel serving with UN missions	470
2.	EU Missions
	European Union Monitor Mission (EUMM) to the former Yugoslavia	11
3.	Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
	(i) OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina	6
	(ii) OSCE Mission in Croatia	2
	(iii) OSCE Mission in Kosovo	1
	(iv) OSCE Presence in Albania	1
	(v) OSCE Mission in FRY	1
	(vi) OSCE Mission in Macedonia	2
	(vii) Staff Officer, Higher Level Planning Group, Vienna	1
	Total number of personnel serving OSCE	14
4.	Head of Military Staff (Brussels)	1
5.	EU Military Staff (Brussels)	4
6.	Liaison Office of Ireland, PfP (Brussels)	3
7.	Permanent Representative to E.U. (Brussels)	4
8.	Military Representatives/Advisers (on secondment to Department of Foreign Affairs)
	(i) Military Advisers, Permanent Mission to UNHQ, New York	1
	(ii) Deputy Military Adviser, Permanent Mission to UNHQ, New York	1
	(iii) Military Adviser, Irish Delegation to OSCE, Vienna	1
	(iv) Military Representative to Partnership Co-ordination Cell/Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Mons, Belgium	1

Total Number Defence Forces Personnel Serving Overseas

511

A total of four Irish military personnel, including head of military staff, Brussels, is attached to the liaison office of Ireland to Partnership for Peace which is located at NATO headquarters in Brussels. A fifth officer acts as the KFOR-SFOR liaison officer and military representative to the Partnership Co-operation Cell-SHAPE located in Mons. These officers fulfil roles as liaison officers in the context of our participation in Partnership for Peace and Defence Forces participation in SFOR and KFOR.

As regards commitments to be met by the Defence Forces in relation to overseas missions in 2002, the position is that, on 26 June 2001, the Government approved the provision of contingents of the Permanent Defence Force for service with: (i) the UN-authorised multinational stabilisation force – SFOR – in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and (ii) the international security presence in Kosovo known as KFOR, for a further period of 12 months from June 2001. The Government further authorised the making of preparations for the selection, training and equipping of further contingents of the Permanent Defence Force to provide for the possibility of Ireland's continuing participation in those missions beyond June 2002.

On 18 July 2001, the Government approved the despatch of a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force for service with the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea – UNMEE – for a period of one year from December 2001. On 26 October 2001, Dáil Éireann approved the despatch of the contingent. On 5 September 2001, the Government authorised me to inform the UN Secretariat, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, that Ireland is agreeable in principle to continue to provide Defence Forces personnel to the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor – UNTAET – and any follow-on mission in East Timor until October 2002.