Mr. Colm Doyle:

I have been making out some notes. The UN Security Council has not authorised a new peacekeeping operation in over a decade. Fifty-six draft resolutions have also been vetoed by the council since 2001. All of those were not necessarily on peacekeeping operations but it does show that the permanent members are a very emotive issue. To get a change in the permanent membership of the United Nations, you have to get the agreement of those permanent members to come off the permanent member list, and none of the five are going to do that. If we see what has happened with Russia and what happens with America, there is great concern within the Defence Forces currently over the mandate for Lebanon. There is no guarantee the Americans will not move on the current permanent mission authority it has, particularly given that - whether we like it or not - it is a supporter of Israel.

There is a slight dilemma there. I do not want to go into specifics or name names but it is an issue of concern. I am sure as we sit here that there are a lot of members of the Defence Forces who are very nervous that they may not get a chance to serve in the largest operation we have, which is Lebanon, because some country that has the veto will use it for internal, selfish political motives. That is a threat and a concern for the Defence Forces.