Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

At the moment, it does not seem that any Irish troops are serving abroad legally.

My question was about the establishment of battle groups. The Minister is saying they will be authorised, rather than established, by the United Nations. How will the troops involved train and how will they be deployed for training outside this country if they have not been established by the UN? This raises serious questions about section 3 of the new legislation. That section bypasses the triple lock mechanism by providing that a contingent or member of the Permanent Defence Force may, with only the sole prior approval of the Government, conduct or participate in training, undertake monitoring, observation or advisory duties abroad, and participate in or undertake recognisance or fact finding missions. Does that appear to provide for the deployment of troops abroad to be trained in various military exercises that may or may not become a battle group authorised by the United Nations at some time in the future?

How can the Minister manage to authorise a battle group, which is a rapid response mechanism, if he must wait for authorisation from the Security Council and UN General Assembly? They meet only on a regular scheduled basis and do no have urgent meetings to consider matters of that nature. What will happen in this regard? If an engineering section or signal section of Irish troops are to be deployed, will the battles take place and the war be over before they are deployed? There is nothing in the legislation that indicates how the Minister will get such an authorisation in time to effectively operate a battle group.

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