Mr. Kieran Brennan:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members of the committee for their invitation to attend here this morning, and I hope the experiences that I have and share with them will be of interest to them as they deliberate on this very important issue as it impacts the Defence Forces and indeed the wider country. Since my retirement from the Defence Forces, I have become involved in a number of different organisations and I am particularly proud of the fact that I am currently the honorary president of the United Nations Veterans Association. Today in the committee's presence, I wish to acknowledge the outstanding service these veterans have given the State, both at home and abroad. I am delighted to be joined by two distinguished veterans here, to my right and my left. Like Maureen, I want to emphasise that I am here in a private capacity and not representing any organisation.

I joined the Defence Forces on 10 November 1975 and retired on 19 June 2019 after completing close to 44 years of service to the State, both at home and abroad. During that period, the Defence Forces changed considerably. For example, in 1975, the Defence Forces had no armed peacekeepers overseas, mainly due to the ongoing conflict in Northern Ireland, nor had we many of the safeguards currently in place in the Defence Forces to ensure compliance with best human resource management, HRM, practice. In the intervening years I have been witness to the many reviews, reorganisations, downsizing and so on of the Defence Forces. In 2012, the Government directed a further major reorganisation of the Defence Forces. The implementation process impacted many personnel within the organisation, which is still dealing with the many challenges, both from a Reserve and permanent perspective, that that downsizing and Government decision created.

As a serving officer, I had the privilege of commanding at all levels of the Defence Forces from platoon to brigade level, the latter for a nine-month period as general officer commanding 1 Brigade, when we had a total strength of approximately 2,500 personnel. I also accumulated significant experience in the HRM arena during my service at battalion and brigade level and as director of J1 Branch, which is effectively the HRM branch of Defence Forces Headquarters, DFHQ, particularly at a time of huge change for the Defence Forces in 2012 to 2014. All these experiences, coupled with my overseas service, helped greatly when I was appointed deputy chief of staff for operations on 15 June 2015.

During my service in the Defence Forces I always endeavoured to put the best interests of the soldiers, sailors and aircrew, whom I commanded and had responsibility for, at the centre of all my decision-making. These decisions were always grounded in the Defence Act and Defence Forces regulations, any changes to which are the preserve of the Department of Defence and Minister for Defence. It is unfortunate that the public, including decision-makers, politicians, media, NGOs, and so on, do not understand that the actions of decision-makers in the Defence Forces are constrained by the contents of the aforementioned documents and in that context the proposed amendments contained in Part 4 of the Bill are to be welcomed.

Overseas deployments are a key component of military service. The current debate in regard to the triple lock has significant implications for the provision of Irish peacekeepers. Overseas, I have the unique experience of commanding troops under UN command in Lebanon, NATO Partnership for Peace command in Kosovo and EU command in Chad. I also had the experience of working with OSCE in a political-military role in Vienna. All these troop deployments had one thing in common: the lives, safety and well-being of the local people, international aid workers and NGO workers in the area of operations was significantly enhanced by the presence of Irish peacekeepers.

I would like to reflect on my experiences of commanding, in 2008-09, a multinational battalion in Chad consisting of Irish, Dutch and French troops, amounting to about 500 in total. During this deployment, we had to deal with a very difficult security situation and significant environmental and logistical challenges given our location was 800 km from the capital, N'Djamena, where all our supplies came from. Owing to large-scale conflict in neighbouring Darfur, which is in north-west Sudan, a significant number of Sudanese refugees had entered Chad and were living in very difficult circumstance within my area of operation. In addition, many thousands of Chadians had been displaced from border regions because of the conflict. We were deployed under a UN mandate to, among other things, enhance the security environment for the local population and all key actors in the area. This we did faithfully, allowing the 18,000 refugees in Djabal refugee camp, adjacent to Goz Beida, the nearest town to our camp, to live securely and safely. It gave the local population, particularly women who had faced many challenges, particularly sexual exploitation, the opportunity to live as normal a life as was possible under the circumstances. Our presence prevented local militia and criminal gangs from kidnapping young boys and inducting them into their ranks as boy soldiers. With a Kalashnikov in hand, they would have become a serious threat to our peacekeepers. Suffice it to say I could continue to list the benefits of our presence there but time does not permit it. I have no doubt our presence and that of our follow-on colleagues both saved and enhanced people's lives.

If no UN Security Council resolution had been adopted for this deployment, Irish troops would not have been deployed to Chad and the many benefits outlined above would have been lost to all stakeholders. Therein for me sits the moral dilemma facing this State, and indeed the committee in its deliberations: do we stand on principle and say "No" to overseas deployments unless there is an UN Security Council resolution, because of its supposed impacts on our neutral status, or do we adopt a position whereby the saving and enhancement of people's lives trump all else? For Chad in 2008, today we can substitute Gaza, Ukraine and the Congo, which are all crying out desperately for international intervention. With a dysfunctional UN Security Council, are we destined to remain on the sidelines expecting others to intervene on our behalf? Accordingly, I support the proposals in this Bill. I thank the members for their time and look forward to their questions.