Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, 50 on each, and that would include officers right through the ranks.

The Deputy asked about our commitment to overseas missions. The White Paper on Defence 2015 states we would have up to 850 personnel on overseas peacekeeping missions. The Deputy spoke about other people whom we have overseas but I am here today to talk about UN peacekeeping operations and UN-mandated missions. Of course, we have other personnel overseas on smaller missions with one or two officers and we have a number of people in Brussels. That has always been the case.

The Deputy spoke about the planned rotation of deployments to and from UNDOF. In October 2018, there was a delay of personnel coming home and also a very short delay in April 2019. I am very much aware that personnel and their families very much look forward to getting home on the scheduled date. On my own behalf and on behalf of the Defence Forces, I accept these delays are regrettable. However, this is totally out of our control as it is handled by the United Nations. In recognition of the long delay in October 2018, which was ten days or perhaps even longer, I decided we would give personnel an ex gratiapayment of €1,000. The delay in April of this year was for only a number of days.

There are a lot of moving parts when flights are being organised and it is not just a case of booking a flight and assuming everything is okay. People are in a very difficult part of the Middle East and there are political pressures, border crossings and a number of other factors involved. I have spoken to the Chief of Staff on this issue. The position is that we should not be saying that they will be home on 1 June, or whatever other date. We must have latitude. It is more a case of saying we expect them home on 1 June but there might be a delay of two, three or four days. However, this is totally out of our control. With regard to the last delay in April of this year, I assure the Deputy that, with the officials of my Department, members of the Defence Forces and the Irish ambassador to the UN, H.E. Ms Geraldine Byrne Nason, we were working around the clock trying to get these personnel home and back to their families, although I can understand the frustrations people have.

The Deputy also spoke about EUTM Mali. We have been participating in EUTM Mali since the start of the mission in 2013.

In response to Deputy McLoughlin, Ireland is going for a seat on the UN Security Council. That campaign was launched in 2018 and members of the Defence Forces, including the Chief of Staff, and also, if memory serves me, the Secretary General of my Department, were there for the launch of the campaign, along with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. I have had many bilateral meetings in recent months and have taken any opportunity to go to New York to meet different countries, in particular at the UN peacekeeping conference in New York, as well as the UN peacekeeping conference in Canada. In total, I would say I have had 25 or 30 bilateral meetings with a range of countries. As Minister of State with responsibility for the Defence Forces, it is good to be able to talk about the great work members of the Defence Forces do overseas, which is very well recognised. As I said in my opening statement, we are a country that has committed to blue hat missions since the day United Nations missions started, and Ireland has been one of the biggest troop contributing countries in Lebanon. That is very much recognised, not just across Europe but right across the world. People really appreciate what a small country like Ireland can do.

In March 2010, on my visit to UNIFIL, I changed my programme in that I wanted to get out into the local communities and talk to the local people.

A Minister normally gets to meet the troops and perhaps the local mayor but does not get an opportunity to get out on the ground. I stayed on in Lebanon for an extra day and a half. That fund is administered through Irish Aid and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with involvement from members of the Defence Forces. Money is invested into local communities, including in water-sewerage projects, sports facilities, libraries, schools, hospitals, orphanages, etc. I visited up to seven or eight different projects from early in the morning to late at night and the following day also. It is important for me to get first-hand knowledge and experience, and for me and the members of the Defence Forces to get out into the local communities. While peacekeeping missions have changed completely, getting out into the local community is still as important as ever.

There is a range of different threats. I spoke to people in the Lebanese community who remember the first Irish Defence Forces members going out; they were only young children at the time. They would say that the Irish Defence Forces are always very welcome and will continue to have a welcome from the Lebanese people. It is vital for us to engage with the local communities and work with them in every way possible.