Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I will answer the Deputy's last question first. If Irish troops are committed, it is envisaged that the mission will last approximately four months. I appreciate the Deputy's comments regarding the security situation on the ground. The Deputy will appreciate that a heavy force is already in the Democratic Republic of Congo. MONUC consists of almost 17,000 appropriately armed troops.

The United Nations has requested the EU to supply a force, of a rapid reaction type, to help during the election period. That would be available to help if disturbances occured during the election period. The force will consist of two elements, 400 troops on the ground based in Kinshasa and more than 1,000 troops based either in a neighbouring state or somewhere in Europe, which can be called upon if required. We have written to the EU military council to make an initial offer of up to ten officers, who would be based in headquarters. That would either be in Potsdam or Kinshasa. The offer is being considered and we have received a reply stating the appropriateness of the offer.

Approximately 1,000 troops will be provided by France and Germany and 500 will be provided by all the other countries. Our offer is well in line with proposals made by other countries, though I will not go into detail on those.

The safety of our troops always weighs heavily on me and the Government when a request is made for their deployment overseas. We and the military authorities are satisfied that Irish troops are sufficiently trained and have sufficient force protection assets such as body armour to ensure they will be safe in the Congo. This was carefully weighed when we decided to respond positively to the EU request.

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