Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am under a bit of time pressure but I will try to be quick and give as comprehensive a statement as I can. I am pleased to report to the committee on Irish Defence Forces' participation in United Nations missions in 2014. The report for 2014 was laid before Dáil Éireann on 29 June 2015. The following motion was been placed on the Order Paper for Dáil Éireann:

That Dáil Éireann approves the report by the Minister for Defence regarding service by the Defence Forces with the United Nations in 2014, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 29th June, 2015, in accordance with section 13 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006.

In commending the motion, I will shortly outline some of the key aspects of Ireland's involvement with the UN over the past couple of years. A central tenet of Irish foreign policy is support for the multilateral system of collective security represented by the United Nations. In this regard, Ireland has worked to uphold the primary role of the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security. Ireland reaffirmed this commitment in the Government's recent White Paper on Defence. The White Paper on Defence, which was published in August 2015, sets out the policy framework for the defence organisation for the next ten years and beyond.

Ireland's commitment to the United Nations has found expression in its long-standing tradition of participation in UN peacekeeping operations. Ireland has participated continuously in UN peacekeeping operations since 1958, a service which has comprised more than 64,000 individual tours of duty. No other country in the world has had a longer service. 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 UN. This has included 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. Notwithstanding our current economic difficulties, Ireland continues to willingly play a full role in contributing to the security of Europe and the world, providing professional peacekeepers to a range of complex missions throughout the world.

During 2014, the Defence Forces continued to make a major contribution to international peacekeeping through their participation in UN-led and UN-authorised missions. Personnel were deployed on 14 different missions throughout the world in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.As of 1 November 2015, Ireland is contributing 489 Defence Forces personnel to 12 missions throughout the world.

In November 2014, in response to a request by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under the emergency civilian assistance team, ECAT, initiative to assist in Ireland's response to the Ebola crisis in west Africa, a team of three members of the Permanent Defence Forces were deployed to the Embassy of Ireland in Sierra Leone to enhance the embassy's ability to respond to the crisis. The Defence Forces team completed its service in the embassy in June 2015. Five Defence Forces personnel were also deployed to Sierra Leone in January 2015 where they served as part of a UK-led joint inter-agency task force tackling Ebola in west Africa. The Defence Forces completed their service with that mission on 15 September 2015.

Ireland's main commitments during 2014 were to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, on the Golan Heights. Last December, I had the honour of visiting the 47th infantry group, which was serving with UNIFIL at that time. That visit afforded me the opportunity to see at first hand what the situation facing our troops was like in south Lebanon. I may go out again in a few weeks' time. The UNIFIL mission continues to represent Ireland's largest overseas deployment. Throughout 2014, a contingent comprising approximately 199 Defence Forces personnel was deployed to the UNIFIL mission. The Defence Forces serve as part of a joint Finnish-Irish battalion which is based in Sector West of UNIFIL's area of operations and is currently under Finnish command. It will come under Irish command next year.

Partnership with other like-minded states has become an increasing element of our overseas peacekeeping operations. The participation of both Finland and Ireland in the UNIFIL mission is but one example that demonstrates our joint contribution to international peace and security. In the absence of partners such as Finland, the range and nature of overseas operations which Ireland could undertake in support of international peace and security would be notably curtailed. Such joint deployments further support interoperability, build experience, significantly contribute to the range and nature of operations we can undertake in support of the United Nations and further deepen the excellent bilateral relationship between our countries. The United Nations Security Council, when extending the mandate of UNIFIL on 24 August, reaffirmed its determination to ensure no acts of intimidation would prevent UNIFIL from performing its mandated tasks and recalled the need for all parties to ensure the mission was secure and its freedom of movement was fully respected and unimpeded.

There were two rotations of Irish personnel to UNIFIL in 2014. The Defence Forces' contribution to UNIFIL in 2014 comprised the 42nd infantry group, with approximately 184 personnel, and the 45th infantry group, with approximately 186 personnel. Also, a number of Defence Forces personnel served at UNIFIL sector west headquarters in Shama and at the force headquarters in Naqoura. Brigadier General Patrick Phelan who was appointed by the United Nations as deputy force commander UNIFIL in April 2012 completed his assignment in April 2014. I thank him for his outstanding contribution to the success of the mission and wish him every success in the future.

Ireland’s second largest overseas deployment in 2014 was to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, on the Golan Heights in Syria. There were two rotations in 2014. The second, involving the 44th infantry group, was delayed by two weeks in response to a UN request to allow time for the mission to reconfigure following incidents in the UNDOF area of responsibility in August 2014. I suspect members will recall the incidents in question. The 46th infantry group completed its rotation in September 2014. The Irish contingent, comprising approximately 130 personnel, is tasked primarily with serving as the force mobile reserve within the UNDOF area of responsibility. In addition to the force reserve company, there are eight other Defence Forces personnel based in UNDOF headquarters in Camp Ziouani.

Fighting between Syrian Arab armed forces and anti-government armed elements escalated in the UNDOF area of responsibility during the reporting period. In August 2014 and in response to the hostilities, the Irish contingent, in its capacity as the force reserve company, dealt with several incidents, as requested by the force commander UNDOF, including assisting with the safe extraction of members of the Philippine battalion. There has since been a fundamental realignment of the UNDOF mission, with a view to minimising unacceptable risks to peacekeepers, while continuing to implement the mission’s mandate. In September 2014 the headquarters of the UNDOF mission, including the Irish contingent, was relocated from Camp Faouar on the Syrian side of the area of separation to Camp Ziouani on the Israeli side of the area of separation. Movement in the area of separation has also been restricted since September 2014. The United Nations continues to review the mission and provides regular updates on the mission for the Security Council in this regard.

Reflecting the high regard in which Irish peacekeepers were held, Brigadier General Anthony Hanlon was appointed by the United Nations as deputy force commander of UNDOF on 20 September 2014 for an initial one-year period. At the request of the United Nations, his appointment has been extended until 31 March 2016. UNDOF is assisted by military observers from the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation's observer group Golan which currently includes six Irish officers.

Ireland contributes military observers and staff to various United Nations missions such as the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, UNTSO. Thirteen Irish personnel, including the head of mission and chief-of-staff of the UNTSO, Brigadier General Michael Finn, were deployed to the mission over the course of 2014. Brigadier General Michael Finn, or Mick Finn as he is known to most people, was appointed head of mission of the UNTSO by the United Nations in July 2013 in the rank of major general and had his appointment extended for a further period until the end of July 2015 at the request of the United Nations. I thank him for his outstanding contribution to the success of the mission and wish him well in his retirement.

I also had an opportunity to visit Irish troops serving with the European Union Training Mission in Mali, EUTM Mali, on 19 March. Ten Defence Forces personnel are serving with this mission, six of whom are deployed to the joint UK-Irish infantry training team, with one lieutenant colonel serving as executive officer to the training task force based in Koulikoro and three remaining Irish personnel occupying staff appointments in mission headquarters in Bamako. In this regard, I express my condolences and sympathy to the victims of the awful attack in Bamako in recent days.

During my visit to Mali I had the opportunity to meet the EUTM Mali mission commander, Brigadier General García-Vaquero Pradal, and the Irish troops serving with the mission. The visit also afforded me an opportunity to see at first hand the dedication and professionalism of military personnel and the tremendous work done by them in training and mentoring the Malian armed forces to improve their military capacity. I conveyed to the troops our deep appreciation of the outstanding manner in which they continued to perform their duties on overseas service.

Other missions in which Defence Forces personnel were deployed in 2014 were the EUFOR mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with seven personnel; the NATO-led international security presence or KFOR in Kosovo, with 12 personnel; and the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, in Afghanistan, with seven personnel. On 31 December 2014 the International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan ended and the seven Defence Forces personnel who had been serving with the mission transferred to the NATO-led training and advisory follow-on mission, known as Resolute Support, on 1 January 2015. Fourteen Defence Forces personnel were deployed to the Nordic battlegroup headquarters in Sweden from July to December 2014 and a number of Defence Forces personnel staffed appointments at UN, EU and OSCE headquarters.

The Defence Forces completed their service with the EU Training Mission in Somalia, EUTM Somalia, on 14 April 2014. The Defence Forces had been serving with the mission since April 2010. Ireland also provided the mission commander during the period from August 2011 until February 2014.

Ireland continued its deployment of five members of the Permanent Defence Force for service with the United Nations Mine Action Service, UNMAS, in South Sudan until September 2014 when Ireland completed its service with the mission. The role of Irish personnel deployed to the mission was to provide a specialist training team on conventional munitions disposal, mine and specialist search awareness for South Sudanese police officers.

It is important for Ireland to continue to build on its long tradition of service to the founding principles of the United Nations by making practical commitments of personnel to peace support operations. I assure the committee that, notwithstanding the economic challenges we are facing, the Government is committed to ensuring the Defence Forces will continue to contribute in a meaningful way to overseas operations. Members will note that, notwithstanding Article 42.7 of the Lisbon treaty and the challenges faced by France and the European Union, Ireland had planned a significant increase in deployment next year, particularly with UNIFIL. Relative to its size, available resources and capabilities, both financial and military, Ireland is proportionately a very large peacekeeping contributor within the international community. Overseas service is a core activity of the Defence Forces and Ireland's record of service in UN authorised peace support operations is second to none. The Defence Forces continue to make a significant contribution to such operations throughout the world. The Government places high importance on the valuable work being done by members of the Defence Forces overseas.

I fully recognise the importance of operational experience in peace support operations for the ongoing development of the Defence Forces. I had the honour to see at first hand the dedication and professionalism of our Defence Forces personnel serving overseas during my visits to UNDOF, UNIFIL, UNTSO, and EUTM in Mali. Last month, I met the commander and crew of LE Samuel Beckett, and previously I met the crew of the LE Eithne.

The LE Samuel Beckett, which succeeded theLE Eithneand the LE Niamh, is deployed to the Mediterranean to assist the Italian authorities on a bilateral basis in the humanitarian search and rescue operation efforts to prevent further tragedy and loss of life at sea. The three naval vessels have rescued a combined total of 8,592 migrants to date. As of today, this figure may have increased. The LE Samuel Beckettis scheduled to complete its deployment in early December 2015. It is due back between 14 and 17 December, subject to ongoing assessment of the crisis and the operational need to continue to provide such assistance. The need for a further deployment to the operation in the Mediterranean next year will be evaluated over the coming months and will be considered in the context of the ongoing situation in the Mediterranean and the overall EU response to it. While I intend that we will have a presence in the Mediterranean next spring, it is subject to Government approval. We must keep in close contact with our Italian colleagues to ensure our personnel are deployed where they are needed. It has been a very successful and worthwhile mission.

The current contribution of some 489 personnel to 12 overseas missions is very significant in the context of the reduced resources available for defence over recent years. It reflects the Government’s continued commitment to our responsibilities in the area of international peace and security. I acknowledge the significant demands placed on personnel who serve overseas and on their families when they are away. Without their loyal and continuing support, Ireland’s strong tradition of service overseas under the auspices of the United Nations would not be possible. Their committed and dedicated service in overseas missions reflects well not alone on the Defence Forces but on the nation as a whole, and contributes to Ireland’s excellent reputation among peacekeepers throughout the world.