Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is a pity we are dealing with two reports at the same time. They roll into each other, but there is a slight difference when we look at the figures. In 2017 the contribution to UNIFIL was 379 personnel, while in 2018, it was 106. Was there a reason for this?

I have a question about missing contributions not mentioned by the Minister of State. Earlier this year, in reply to a parliamentary question, he said one member of the Defence Forces was on secondment to the UN Office of Military Affairs in New York. This is not mentioned in the report. He also stated that as part of Ireland's participation in Partnership for Peace, a member of the Defence Forces was serving in the role of gender adviser to NATO's Secretary General's special representative on women, peace and security, but this is not mentioned in the report. Neither are the Defence Force' personnel serving as military advisers, representatives and staff officers with the OSCE, the European Union, the United Nations and NATO's Partnership for Peace. That is what the Minister of State said and I hope I am not making it up.

My next question is about the new headquarters which I assume has been set up at this stage as it was announced in 2017. There is strategic level operational planning and conduct of the European Union's non-executive military missions. They are the training missions in central Africa, Mali and Somalia. Are Irish troops committed to them on an ongoing basis, rather than on a one-off basis?

The Minister of State mentioned Operation Sophia. We have had the argument about it being the wrong operation. Operation Pontus was the more humanitarian one. The Minister of State mentioned two vessels being used in 2018 and only one in 2017. This has to do with the changes made. How many personnel were on board the vessels? In overall terms, approximately 620 soldiers or Naval Service personnel are on duty overseas with the United Nations. They are very laudable duties which bring a lot of respect to the country through the work the personnel have done during the years. I am trying to figure out whether more Irish personnel were deployed overseas than are included in the figure of 600. A question came up previously and I cannot remember whether it was answered. It is about whether there is a maximum number of Defence Forces' personnel who can be serving overseas at a given time, given the size of the Defence Forces.

I have been told in the past, although I never got any confirmation, that there was a certain percentage that could be reached but not exceeded.

We have seen the chaos during changes of personnel when one detachment was coming back from and another going to Syria. Will the Minister of State assure us that when we come back for the report on 2019, all of that chaos for families who are waiting for people, and chaos for soldiers waiting to be deployed or to come back, will not happen again, not just in the Golan Heights but also in Lebanon or for other deployments?