David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I recall a number of years ago when I was Chair of the justice committee and also sat on the foreign affairs committee that members of the Defence Forces appeared before us. Some of the personnel told us that when they were in Darfur, their role was to protect women who went out for water because that was one of the most dangerous things for them to do. They could be attacked, raped and so on, but they had no choice but to get water for their children.

The possible deployment of an independent and impartial force was mentioned. Deploying an independent and impartial force into the middle of an active war would be challenging. Perhaps it is something we should support, but how would it work? Would the force come from Africa? Some soldiers from Kenya have gone to Haiti to try to bring peace to another troubled spot. How would the proposed force be established and deployed and from where would its members come? What would be acceptable out there?