Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I join in wishing all those currently serving abroad a peaceful Christmas. The Labour Party welcomes the opportunity to discuss the deployment of extra Irish troops to Liberia, both in the context of recent comments by the Minister about the strength of our commitment of officers to international overseas missions in general and in terms of the general security situation in Liberia, with the consequent threat to the safety of Irish troops.

I will address the position in Liberia in due course but it is somewhat ironic that this proposal has come before the Dáil at a time when the Minister is telling anyone who will listen that he wishes to reduce Ireland's commitment of officers to overseas missions. Highly critical comments were made about the Minister's actions by a number of senior figures at the recent RACO conference. As he chose to absent himself from ministerial questions in the House last Wednesday, Deputies did not have an opportunity to raise questions with him on this issue. I intend to raise questions the next time theMinister appears in the House to take questions.

See this speech in context