On behalf of the Minister for Defence and on my own behalf as the Minister of State at the Department of Defence, I am pleased to report to the committee on Defence Forces participation in United Nations missions in 2006. The report for 2006 was laid before the Dáil on 23 August 2007. The following motion has been placed on the Order Paper for the Dáil:
That Dáil Éireann approves the report by the Minister for Defence regarding service by the Defence Forces with the United Nations in 2006, copies of which were laid before Dail Eireann on 23 August 2007, in accordance with Section 13 of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 2006.
In commending the motion, I will outline some of the key aspects of Ireland's involvement with the UN in the past couple of years. I am sure that members will join me in wishing a safe and successful tour to the members of the Army ranger wing who are deploying today to the UN-mandated EU mission to the Republic of Chad and the Central African Republic, EUFOR TCHAD-RCA. Some 50 ARW personnel will arrive in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, tomorrow to form part of EUFOR's initial entry force. Some 400 Irish personnel will join the ARW personnel in Chad in the coming weeks. When the Irish deployment to EUFOR TCHAD-RCA is completed by mid to late May, it will bring our total overseas commitment to approximately 870 personnel, just over the overall maximum commitment of 850 personnel overseas at any one time. This ongoing level of engagement in international peace support operations reflects Ireland's commitment to play its role in support of international peace and security in accordance with its obligations under the UN charter.
In 2006, the Defence Forces continued to make a major contribution to international peacekeeping through their participation in UN-led and UN-authorised missions. On average, approximately 738 personnel were deployed on 13 different missions in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia during this period. Relative to our size and available resources and capabilities, both financial and military, Ireland is proportionately a large peacekeeping contributor within the international community.
In the year under review, the Defence Forces maintained Ireland's long and historic association with the African continent with the continued deployment of a contingent with the United Nations Mission in Liberia, UNMIL, service which began in December 2003. The contingent comprised a motorised infantry battalion of some 430 personnel who, together with an integrated Swedish company, acted as the force commander's quick reaction force, QRF. The Defence Forces contingent in UNMIL was Ireland's largest overseas deployment since our contingent was withdrawn from UNIFIL in Lebanon in 2001. In 2003, I visited Liberia as the Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development prior to the deployment of the UN force to Liberia. I visited the country again in 2004 and witnessed the outstanding manner in which the Defence Forces performed their duties in the mission and helped to bring stability to a key region of Africa. I was truly proud of what they were doing.
Initially, the Irish battalion in UNMIL operated in a pathfinding and reconnaissance role mainly, supporting the deployment of other UN contingents. It conducted long-range patrols beyond Monrovia and well into the interior of Liberia, thereby showing a UN presence, deterring lawlessness and protecting local populations. The contingent undertook regular daily patrols within the Monrovia area. The battalion was available to the force commander to provide support and a rapid response capability in the event of a breakdown in law and order or further conflict. The QRF assisted in the transfer from Monrovia to the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown of the former president, Charles Taylor, for trial in accordance with the requirements of the UN, following his arrest in Nigeria on 29 March 2006. The QRF assisted and provided security for the transfer of the former president from Sierra Leone to the court in the Hague in June 2006 where he is standing trial. The trial, which began in June 2007, is ongoing and is scheduled to take at least 12-18 months to conclude.
Ireland was due to complete its participation in UNMIL in November 2006. However, following a request from the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, the Government agreed that the Defence Forces would undertake one further six-month rotation until May 2007 whereupon the contingent would be withdrawn. The downsizing of the contingent as part of a phased withdrawal commenced in June 2006 following discussions with the UN. The Swedish contingent, which partnered Ireland in the QRF, withdrew its personnel in December 2006 and was replaced by a company from Pakistan. Eventually, Pakistan assumed the full role of QRF on Ireland's withdrawal in May 2007.
In response to the July-August 2006 crisis in Lebanon, the UN decided under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 to extend the mandate of UNIFIL to the end of August 2007 and to increase its troop strength from approximately 2,000 troops to a maximum of 15,000. Accordingly, at the request of the UN, a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force comprising 158 personnel was deployed to southern Lebanon on 31 October 2006 for a one-year period as part of an Irish-Finnish engineering battalion that conducted construction and maintenance tasks in support of UNIFIL. The primary role of the Irish mechanised company was to provide protection and security for personnel of the Finnish engineering company. The Irish contingent completed its tour of duty on 31 October 2007 and returned to Ireland in November 2007. At the request of the UN, a small number of Irish personnel continue to be retained at the force headquarters.
As members of the committee will be aware, the nature of peacekeeping operations is changing from traditional UN-led missions to regionally led peace operations with the onus being placed on regional states to organise and assemble peacekeeping troops for the purpose of discharging a UN mandate. These missions represent the trend in UN peacekeeping where missions operate under the control of an established command structure or a lead nation rather than under direct command of the UN. This change has implications for the manner in which these operations are organised and structured, with a much greater emphasis on bilateral relations with established military command structures, such as NATO and the EU, and between participating states and troop contributing countries. However, irrespective of the lead role in the mission, decisions on participation in any particular mission remain a sovereign issue, which in Ireland's case means the mission must have a UN mandate and must be approved by the Government and by Dáil Éireann in accordance with Irish law.
In addition to our contribution to UN blue hat operations in 2006, Ireland made a significant contribution to regionally-led operations. Throughout 2006, Ireland continued its commitment to the western Balkans with the deployment of a contingent with the NATO-led international security presence in Kosovo, KFOR, and with the EU-led Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ireland contributes 41 personnel to EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mainly in staff and headquarter posts. A total of 217 personnel are deployed in KFOR where Ireland contributes an armoured personnel carrier, APC, mounted infantry company to a multinational task force and 11 personnel serve at the force HQ. Ireland took over command of the multinational task force in August 2007 for a period of 12 months. An additional 57 personnel have been deployed to KFOR to undertake this function. During my visit to Kosovo in September 2007, I had the privilege of witnessing the invaluable contribution to peace and stability being made by the Defence Forces there, using their many diplomatic and people skills and dealing with many different and challenging events.
The Defence Forces participated in two EU missions in the period, namely, the support mission to the African Union Mission in Sudan, AMIS II, which concluded in December 2007, and the Aceh Monitoring Mission, AMM, in Indonesia, which concluded in December 2006. As well as the above missions, Ireland was also engaged in a range of other UN-authorised missions as set out in the report.
On the question of reimbursement by the UN, I am glad to be able to advise the committee that we are fully up to date in this regard. In 2007, the UN reimbursed approximately €10.2 million. The amount owed to Ireland by the UN at 31 December 2007 arising from participation in UN missions was €138,000, a relatively modest sum.
Before concluding, I would like to draw the attention of the committee to the humanitarian aspects of Ireland's participation in peacekeeping missions. Increasingly, in the international environment, humanitarian tasks go hand in hand with military tasks in peacekeeping missions. This has been a particular facet of Ireland's participation in overseas missions over the years. In this regard, Irish troops serving overseas display not alone their professional commitment in fulfilling the United Nations mandate, but also support and encourage the local people. In my travels abroad as Minister of State with responsibility for overseas development, I saw this at first hand on many occasions.
During the Defence Forces service with UNMIL in Liberia, an AIDS hospice, run by the Missionaries of Charity, the order of Mother Theresa, was assisted on a personal, voluntary basis by members of the Irish battalion. Irish Defence Forces personnel, on a voluntary basis, completed most of this work in their spare time. The main source of funding towards this humanitarian work came from Irish Aid and through funding raised by Irish contingents. In Kosovo also, the Defence Forces have undertaken a number of humanitarian projects with Irish Aid funding which have made a significant impact on the lives of the people there.
These types of projects are part and parcel of the manner in which Ireland discharges its peacekeeping mandate, which respects and supports the dignity of the people and communities we serve. I acknowledge the excellent work of the Defence Forces in this regard which I observed at first hand when I visited Irish personnel serving overseas. Their work and commitment to the local community is much admired and remarked upon by the people in the areas in which they serve.
Participation in overseas peacekeeping missions is a key element of Ireland's foreign policy and has been an important dimension in meeting Ireland's international obligations as a member of the UN and the EU. Irish foreign policy is directed at supporting co-operative arrangements for collective security through the development of international organisations, especially the United Nations, and supporting effective international action in areas such as disarmament, peacekeeping, development and human rights. This approach continues to define Irish priorities within the UN system and Ireland remains willing to play a full role in contributing to the security of Europe and the world.
Finally, I commend the individual soldiers, who have served and who continue to serve on overseas missions, together with their families and loved ones. Without their loyal and continuing support, Ireland's strong tradition of service overseas, under the auspices of the United Nations, would not be possible.
