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

I will try to do that. This is less of an ask per se and more of an outlining of the facts but it also applies to 2019. In truth, this is a little out of date. It is a procedure that we have to go through to explain. The reality is we are still involved in all of these missions and the 2019 picture is very similar to the picture today, although the numbers vary slightly.

The following motion was placed on the Order Paper for Dáil Éireann and has been referred to this committee:

That Dáil Éireann approves the report by the Minister for Defence regarding service by the Defence Forces with the United Nations in 2019, a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 6 March 2020, in accordance with Section 13 of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 2006.

Irish troops were first deployed on UN peacekeeping operations in 1958 and since then, not a single day has passed without Irish participation in UN peace support operations.

As of 5 January 2021, there are some 586 Defence Forces personnel serving overseas in ten different missions around the world. Ireland has a battalion in UNIFIL and also a company group in the UNDOF mission on the Golan Heights. We also have other significant postings in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. For all these Irish men and women of the Defence Forces deployed on these operations, service with the United Nations is rightly regarded as a noble and important contribution in supporting Ireland's place in the world and our international and foreign policy objectives.

Ireland's main commitments during 2019 were to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, on the Golan Heights.

The UNIFIL mission was Ireland's largest overseas deployment during 2019. Due to other national commitments both Finland and Estonia withdrew from the Irish-Finnish battalion in November 2018. As an interim measure, Ireland assumed the full duties and responsibilities of the Irish battalion and continued in this role up to November 2019 contributing some 450 troops during that period. In November 2019, following an agreement with Poland to come on board as a key partner in this UN peacekeeping operation, Ireland reduced its contribution of troops in UNIFIL to 340 personnel with Poland providing some 220 personnel to a joint Irish-Polish battalion. Hungarian personnel also deployed as part of the Polish contingent. The Irish Defence Forces have had an ongoing relationship with the Armed Forces of Malta since 2009, providing both cadet and officer training. In 2019, nine Armed Forces Malta personnel also deployed as part of the Irish-Polish battalion. The UNIFIL mission in Lebanon continues to represent Ireland's largest overseas peace support deployment.

Ireland's second largest overseas deployment in 2019 was to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, on the Golan Heights. The Defence Forces contribution to UNDOF comprised approximately 137 personnel in 2019.

In September 2019, the United Nations appointed Acting Brigadier General Maureen O'Brien to the post of Deputy Force Commander UNDOF. Maureen O'Brien is the first female to achieve this rank in the Defence Forces, and is the highest ranking officer from the Defence Forces to serve in this mission. Additionally, she assumed the role of Acting Force Commander for the period October 2019 to July 2020, following the untimely passing of the Force Commander, Major General Francis Vib-Sanziri of Ghana in April 2019. We are very fortunate indeed to have Brigadier General Maureen O'Brien serving as Deputy Force Commander of UNDOF. She brings extensive command and peacekeeping experience to the post.

Since its establishment in 1974, UNDOF has been a successful mission in supporting the efforts of the international community, both in the Golan Heights and in the Middle East region more generally.

Government and Dáil approval was received in June 2019 for the deployment of a contingent of the Permanent Defence Forces to participate in the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, the UN-led mission in MALI. The deployment of 13 personnel to the mission, primarily drawn from the Army Ranger Wing, took place in September 2019. All deployed personnel are currently embedded within a larger German company and are carrying out assigned tasks in accordance with the mission mandate.

MINUSMA was established on 25 April 2013 by UN Security Council Resolution 2100 to stabilise the country after the rebellion in 2012. The role of the mission is to ensure security, stabilisation and protection of civilians; supporting national political dialogue and reconciliation; and assisting the re-establishment of state authority, the rebuilding of the security sector, and the promotion of human rights more generally in Mali.

United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, UNTSO, UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, MINURSO, and UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO are also projects that we are involved in. Ireland continued to contribute military observers and staff to various United Nations missions such as United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, UNTSO, throughout 2019. In addition, a small number of Defence Forces officers continued to serve with MINURSO, the UN mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara - we have only two personnel there now - and MONUSCO, UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is a complex mission.

On other UN mandated missions, the UN has come to increasingly rely on regional organisations including the African Union, the EU and NATO to provide forces to implement and support UN Security Council resolutions. In 2019, the Defence Forces were deployed in a number of such UN mandated missions. The EU Training Mission in Mali, EUTM Mali, is a good example of that. Ireland has participated in the EU Training Mission in Mali since the mission was launched in 2013. During 2019, 20 Irish Defence Forces personnel were deployed to EUTM Mali.

I have visited the mission near Bamako. We are working both with the UK and a German contingent. The objective of the mission is to train and mentor the Malian armed forces to improve their military capacity and their effectiveness in guaranteeing the country's territorial integrity. The other EU mandated missions in which the Defence Forces personnel were deployed in 2019, and are still serving, are the EU-led mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, EUFOR, with five personnel, and the NATO-led international security presence in Kosovo, KFOR, with 13 personnel.

I think I have given a good description of where we are. Our guiding star is the UN with UN resolutions, and UN mandated and supported missions. We operate across a broad portfolio of different missions. The two dominant missions in terms of numbers are the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon or UNIFIL in southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights. It has been a somewhat complex mission in recent years for obvious reasons given what has happened in Syria, and the relationship between Syria and Israel. We think both have been very valuable missions in terms of experience and the Irish contribution in both has been significant, and certainly noted internationally. In many ways our Defence Forces on peacekeeping missions are a reinforcement of Ireland's approach to international peacekeeping and conflict prevention. Certainly, being a Minister for Foreign Affairs as well as a Minister for Defence has been very helpful in that context.