Mr. David Donoghue:

The Deputy is right about the reputation we have in the peacekeeping field. The new Secretary General, António Guterres, has put conflict prevention at the top of his agenda for his term in office. He wants to demonstrate that the UN has a key role to play in preventing and managing conflict. He highlights the activities that the UN does well, such as peacekeeping and peace building, in which Ireland has been active. He represents that as being linked to the sustainable development goals, SDGs, and states that if the UN can strengthen its conflict prevention and management role, it will help to achieve peace and that, in turn, creates an environment in which SDGs can be implemented. He is right, and the Deputy is right in referring to goal 16, which talks about peaceful and inclusive societies. There is a peace goal because we call recognise that there cannot be lasting development without peace.

I was with the former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, about three years ago when he visited the Curragh. He was highly impressed by what he saw. In the White Paper which appeared about a year later, there was reference to a proposal which would involve expanding the scope of that college. That is a great idea. There is a job to be done to highlight the importance of our contribution at the UN, both in the Curragh and in the field. We have a reputation for always stepping up to the mark when the UN asks for a contribution to sensitive peacekeeping missions. We are seen as both effective and reliable. We may not have huge resources to contribute but we are highly respected for the quality of the contribution we make. I hope that we can continue to maintain that reputation. We are getting slightly off the main topic here, but I am very sympathetic to what the Deputy was saying.