Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

The ambition of the European Union to be able to respond rapidly to emerging crises has been, and continues to be, a key objective of the development of the European Security and Defence Policy, ESDP. The tasks to be carried out under ESDP, the so-called Petersberg Tasks, are defined in the Amsterdam treaty as "humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking".

Our participation in the ESDP and in the Petersberg Tasks has been endorsed and supported directly by the Irish people in the referendum on the Treaty on European Union and the subsequent referenda on the Amsterdam and Nice treaties. Our participation in the ESDP is also fully in accordance with our traditional support for the United Nations and our obligations as members of the international community to respond to crises, events and humanitarian disasters wherever they may occur.

Ireland supports the development of the EU's rapid response capability in support of UN authorised missions and is positively disposed towards participation in the rapid response elements in this regard. To this end, I established the interdepartmental group to examine all issues relating to Ireland's potential participation in an EU-led rapid response capability. The group reported to me in November 2005 and since then its report has been considered by the Cabinet sub-committee on European affairs and, informally, by the Government.

On the basis of the study and informal discussions at Government level, I have authorised my officials to open discussions with potential partners on Ireland's participation in a battle group. In co-operation with like-minded nations, we will seek to contribute to the development of the battle group concept and, through this, to remain at the forefront of developments within the international community in supporting international peace support operations. With my recent announcement, 23 of 25 member states have signalled their intention to participate in battle groups.

My intention would be to identify specific options on participation and then return to Government for a formal decision. In the first instance we intend to talk to Sweden, which is the framework nation for the Nordic battle group. We have identified a range of potential offers ranging from smaller niche capabilities up to an APC mounted light infantry company group of approximately 200 personnel plus support elements.

While there have been some preliminary informal discussions with Sweden regarding potential participation, to date there have been no formal discussions with any EU member state. As such, I am not in a position to state what will come out of these discussions. However, arrangements have been made for a formal meeting between representatives from the Department of Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Defence Forces of Sweden and Ireland on 10 March in Stockholm to discuss possible Irish participation in the Nordic battle group.

As members will appreciate, the Nordic battle group was organised some time ago and I understand that most of the core elements are already in place, with Sweden contributing the core manoeuvre battalion. In addition, battle groups covering the period out to 2010 have been announced and on this basis I expect that our contribution in the period to 2010 is likely to be limited. However, this will be a matter for ongoing discussion with other member states over the coming months, in particular, Finland and Austria with whom we have had some initial informal exploratory discussions.

There are no plans for the involvement of Naval or Air Corps assets, although individual members of the Naval Service or Air Corps may be deployed on overseas peace support operations as they have been in the past. Any commitment to a battle group will be met within the context of the overall ceiling of 850 personnel serving overseas at any one time as set out in the White Paper on Defence.

There is no question of Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality being compromised by the participation of Irish troops in battle groups. Participation imposes no obligations concerning international or multilateral defence, nor does it give rise to constitutional issues. Any move to a common defence would be for decision by the European Council acting unanimously and in accordance with member states' constitutional requirements. At present, there are no proposals for such a move.

In any event, Ireland's position is clear. The amendment to Bunreacht na hÉireann in October 2002 precludes Ireland from participating in a common defence. As a consequence, the Irish people would have to amend Bunreacht na hÉireann before Ireland could take part in a common defence.

Any decision to participate in any battle group mission will be a national sovereign decision, decided through our own national decision-making process on a case-by-case basis. In this regard, I have reiterated on many occasions that our participation in peace support operations would continue to require UN authorisation. Participation in battle groups will not diminish this requirement in any way. Ireland's basis for participation in missions undertaken by the EU is grounded in the legitimacy conveyed by the UN Security Council. This will not change. The triple lock of UN, Government and Dáil approval will remain in place.

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