Ms Bernie Maguire:

The last one was in 2014. I am not aware of the last one that was denied. The possibility is that none have been proposed because we know they would be vetoed. Whether that has prevented missions that would have got off the ground in better circumstances is difficult to prove.

For the Department, there can be delays in the UN sanctioning. Operation Sophia was the UN mission in the Mediterranean in 2015. Ireland was interested in participating but there were difficulties over a UN mandate being negotiated at that time. It was only in 2016 that they managed to get it over the line and Ireland was able to join.