Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

In common with all areas of the public service, the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces will operate with reduced funding for 2011. The gross allocation for Defence and Army Pensions combined in 2011 is €933 million, an overall reduction of 4% on the 2010 allocation. Defence spending at €725 million, including capital spending, will be down by €30 million or 4% on the 2010 Estimate. The provision for Army pensions, Vote 37, for 2011 is €208 million. The cost of overseas allowances in a given year is principally a factor of the number of personnel serving overseas and the time spent overseas. While there has been a significant reduction in participation in overseas peace-keeping in 2010, and thus in the expenditure on overseas allowances, this was driven mainly by the unexpected withdrawal from Chad. Since then, civil and military management have been reviewing all available options to identify a suitable overseas mission for the Defence Forces.

Despite the reduced budgetary resources available to the Department generally, Ireland remains open to participation in peace-keeping operations. In that regard, I am glad to be able to advise the House that the Government yesterday approved the deployment of a contingent of the Defence Forces, as part of a joint Finnish/Irish battalion to UNIFIL. Up to 440 personnel could be deployed in the second quarter of next year to this mission. Discussions will now commence with the UN and with Finland on finalising the composition of the contingent and the deployment schedule. Thereafter, I will proceed in the new year to seek Dáil approval for the mission. This will complete the triple lock mechanism of UN, Government and Dáil approval before deploying members of the Defence Forces overseas.

Ireland is currently contributing 137 Defence Forces personnel to 12 different missions throughout the world. The main overseas mission in which Defence Forces personnel are currently deployed is the EU-led operation ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 43 personnel. Ireland's contribution to this mission will be drawn down in April next as the mission continues to transition to a training and support mission. Once we deploy to UNIFIL it is expected that our total overseas deployment at that stage will amount to just over 500. This is a very significant contribution in the context of the reduced resources available and reflects the Government's continued commitment to international peace-keeping and to the ongoing development of the Defence Forces.

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