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

The nature of the mission has changed much over a relatively short space of time. There has been a fundamental reconfiguration of how and where it operates. It was an observer mission. For many years, the mission was observing in relatively stable and peaceful conditions. The idea was to keep Syria and Israel apart. It is one of the UN’s oldest peacekeeping missions. It all changed with a very violent and ongoing civil war involving multiple players in Syria. The territory on the Syrian side of the "Alpha" line has become an unsafe place for peacekeepers to operate as observers. They are not armed or equipped for the potential risk. Irish troops behaved in a heroic manner in rescuing and supporting colleagues who were exposed in outposts. The mission has been reconfigured following the lessons learned from the activity.

Our troops and the vast majority of the mission, with the exception of some outposts and a contingent on Mount Hermon, which is a little further away, is in its base camp or headquarters on the Israeli side of the Alpha line. Much is still happening on the other side of the line, and rockets and gunfire can often been seen by night. Many people, and a political party, have called for us to pull out of UNDOF. I do not think we should. The UN is adamant that it wants us to stay. The mission is undoubtedly a stabilising factor, although it is not able to do all it was designed and is mandated to do. We hope to be able to return to a position in which it can. Strategically, having a UN mission there as a stabilising factor and observation force decreases the likelihood of Israel getting drawn into the conflict. This is why we are very happy to stay and we think it is a very valuable contribution.