Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 82, 90, 92, 93 and 107 together.

The background to the rapid response elements concept, commonly referred to as battlegroups, is that at the European Council in Helsinki in 1999, member states set themselves a headline goal that by the year 2003, co-operating together and voluntarily, they would be able to deploy rapidly and then sustain forces capable of the full range of Petersberg Tasks, as set out in the Amsterdam Treaty. The EU has learnt from historical experiences in the Balkans and Africa and wants to be able to react faster when crises develop. That was effectively illustrated last year by the EU's first autonomous military operation, which was conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The operation, which was undertaken at the request of the United Nations Secretary General and deployed very rapidly, was successful in contributing to the stabilisation of the security environment and the improvement of humanitarian conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kofi Annan also stressed its importance during his recent visit to Dublin. Deputies will also recall that, in his address to the Forum on Europe on 14 October, he specifically welcomed the development of EU capabilities in the context of European security and defence policy and stressed how important strengthened EU capacities, in particular rapid deployment capabilities, are to the UN. He also highlighted Ireland's pivotal role during our Presidency of the European Union in promoting co-operation between the EU and the United Nations in crisis management and in particular the potential use of EU rapid response elements to support UN peacekeeping operations.

Regarding the other part of the question, I can confirm that the activities of those troops will be confined to the Petersberg Tasks, which are essentially humanitarian, including rescue, peacekeeping and crisis management.

One must bear in mind that the Defence Forces are currently in Liberia on a UN operation, in Kosovo on a NATO-led operation, and in Bosnia on an EU-led operation, and that rapid response elements are but one aspect of EU capabilities to assist in crisis management.

The rapid response concept raises many issues, not only for Ireland but also for other EU member states. Once again, I stress that the question of Ireland's participation in rapid response elements will remain subject to the usual requirements of a Government decision, Dáil approval and UN authorisation.

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