Mr. Ciarán Murphy:

Our major mission at the moment is in Lebanon. It is currently under threat. If that UN Security Council resolution does not go through, we will be withdrawing everybody. It is not the first time that has happened. When we were deployed to Chad, it was coming into the wet season and there was a question over the Security Council resolution. There were many engagements at Taoiseach level and ministerial level with the under-secretary general for UN peacekeeping to find out whether the resolution would go through. We could not get an assurance it would go through and we could not stay. If the resolution had not gone through, the forces would have had to leave but ew would not have been able to get the equipment out. All our armoured personnel carriers, kit, mortars, ammunition and so on would have been left in Chad when we withdrew. On many occasions, we have had to issue warning orders to forces on the ground that they may have to withdraw to the base and cease operations in Lebanon or Liberia because we did not have certainty around the Security Council resolution. Eventually, they came through but in the case of Chad we withdrew all our forces in advance of the resolution because we could not be there with all our kit at risk of being left behind.