Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

Does the Minister intend to supply soldiers to the Sudan mission? He did not make it clear whether he would, but said the matter was under consideration. Does he agree that the UN mandate in Darfur is ineffective? Observers from the African Union are helpless to address the atrocities which are taking place, but there are plenty of them to tell the western world what is happening. The UN mandate is ineffective because of the lack of resolve of the permanent members of the Security Council. The difficulty inherent in the Government's position on the triple lock is inherent in the requirement to wait for an organisation as ineffectively organised as the UN at Security Council level before any problem can be tackled. As the resolve does not exist in the Security Council to address this matter, I urge the Minister to make a point by refusing to supply soldiers and outlining the reasons I have stated for not doing so.

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