Mr. Michael Howard:

I am very anxious to address all of the Deputy's concerns relating to this issue. It is important to point out that the United Nations does not keep standing military forces of its own. It is completely dependent on countries and organisations to supply forces for its peacekeeping missions. Representatives of the UN would be very open about the fact that it is overstretched because of the number of peacekeepers it has to field in places like Africa. Therefore, the NATO/UN relationship is very much based on the UN asking NATO to field peace support operations. I do not have any brief to speak on behalf of NATO or to make any case for its continued existence but it is a fact that it exists and has become a significant player in supplying assets for peace support operations. The UN wants this and is mandating NATO's operations and is happy for Ireland to contribute to those operations. Those points are a given and are the starting point for our relationship with NATO.

Therefore, when we engage with NATO - this may come as a surprise to the committee - the UN is quite pleased and would be anxious not to discourage us from participating in NATO-UN mandated peace operations.

Whether there is an argument for continuing with these - perhaps there is - is a debate for NATO. Ireland is not a member of NATO, therefore we are not there to make a case for its continuing membership. Given that exists, it may be worth emphasising that in addition to being a military alliance on a de factobasis NATO is, effectively, the International Standards Organisation, ISO, of the military world. The International Standards Organisation produces ISO standards for all kinds of things. In the military world, it is NATO that produces these standards. If one is going to engage at the top end of military operations, NATO standards are used. Neutral Ireland bought our MOWAP armoured personnel carriers from neutral Switzerland but the contract specs are all NATO standards, even though neither Ireland nor Switzerland are members of NATO. As they are the only standards there are, that requires us to be in Partnership for Peace. For example, in the battle group led by Sweden, which is not a member of NATO, Ireland, Finland, Norway and Estonia participate. The great majority of the troops are not NATO but it uses NATO standards because that is all there is. That is our view of NATO, not the Military Alliance view but what I would call the ISO of the military world. Perhaps it is worth keeping that in mind.