Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

As I informed the House previously and as I repeated today, the Cabinet decided on 16 November that at the meeting in Brussels, I should advise my EU counterparts of Ireland's preparedness to enter into consultations with our EU partners with a view to potential participation in rapid response elements. That was the decision taken. There was no decision taken to join the rapid response elements but the decision was taken to consult our EU partners to see whether Ireland could participate in such a concept and to determine what obstacles lay in the way.

Deputy Timmins refers to other countries such as Cyprus. With all due respects to Cyprus and any other countries that have signed up as part of the battle group concept, if one looks at the size of their populations and economies, I doubt if they have put as much as Ireland into peacekeeping over the past 50 years. As I stated, Irish forces are deployed in Liberia, Kosovo and Bosnia. The contribution made by Irish forces to United Nations peacekeeping missions over the past 50 years has been second to none and, regardless of whether we participate in the rapid reaction force, that will not change. Participation in rapid reaction units is only one way in which we can contribute to world peacekeeping. That is the position.

The position in the Department is that there are a number of obstacles. Deputy Timmins asked me directly if I was prepared to abandon the triple lock mechanism. I read his party's interesting paper on neutrality. I do not agree with his statement that the triple lock is a political or other type of straitjacket. If we had to abandon the triple lock to enter into the rapid reaction arrangement, I would not be prepared to make that sacrifice.

The Department, in conjunction with other Departments, is seeking to determine if we can participate meaningfully within the parameters of the triple lock mechanism. This will depend on a number of factors, not primarily the Defence Act. It will depend, for example, on how the United Nations reforms its procedures, a process which is under way. The primary issue will be whether a Security Council decision can be obtained more quickly than at present. This is the main obstacle from the point of view of the triple lock. Something will have to happen on those lines before we would even contemplate looking at our legislation.

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