Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I cannot do so without the permission of the Attorney General, as Deputy Costello knows.

The 1960 Defence Act stated that Ireland is entitled to send troops overseas on a mission "established" by the United Nations. In recent years the United Nations has farmed out the organisation of some of these missions to regional bodies such as the EU, the African Union etc.

The question arose when the Fine Gael and Labour coalition Government was in power in 1996, when Mr. Dermot Gleeson, SC, was the Attorney General, with regard to a particular mission that was established by a regional organisation at the request of the United Nations. In other words, it was not established directly by the United Nations but it was authorised to be set up by the United Nations. The advice of Mr. Dermot Gleeson, SC, was that the situation was covered by the word "established" in the Defence (Amendment) Act 1960. I cannot make it any clearer.

Since then, circumstances have again changed. The United Nations, in its resolutions, tends to use expressions not limited to "authorises" but including "endorses", "supports", "calls on" etc. We have gone through the United Nations resolutions to check their wording.

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