Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very much supportive of our participation in battle groups. It is worth noting that we participated in Nordic-led battle groups in 2008, 2011 and 2015. We participated with the UK in 2016 and, to date, no battle group has ever been deployed in a military operation. It is worth noting these matters when people start to scaremonger and say the flood gates will open, we are heading into battle and this is an EU army. It is not any of those things. It is about being prepared to deploy our troops on UN mandated missions in which we will be involved in peacekeeping, peace enforcement, conflict prevention and in providing assistance to humanitarian operations. That is what the Irish Defence Forces do and what we are committed to doing. It is what we have always done and will continue to do.

Will the Minister of State confirm to the House if eight to ten persons will be involved? That is what has been reported. I understand that Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia and the Netherlands are also involved. Will the Minister of State confirm to the House if that is his information?

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