Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Gormley for his kind words of congratulation that I deeply appreciate. My understanding is that there is no obligation on Ireland to participate in this though I will double check for the Deputy. On costs, we operate on the principle that they lie where they fall. If we contribute to a particular mission, we bear the cost. In future, there could be a question of common costs that would be shared among the different participants, but we have certainly not arrived at that stage yet.

I do not agree with Deputy Gormley that the battle groups constitute an embryonic European army. We are speaking here about a number of states making a contribution of personnel or equipment to these battle groups under the aegis and at the request of the United Nations. Such battle groups could be assembled and deployed quickly to prevent genocide such as we saw in Rwanda, pillage, rape and other forms of attack. That is the raison d'être of this proposal. While the United Nations regularly requests individual countries to provide forces for peacekeeping, nobody has suggested the organisation has an army. Therefore, I do not see why it is proper to say Europe has an embryonic or any other type of army.

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