Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Gormley may refer to terms such as "authorised", "endorsed", "supported", "approved" and "otherwise sanctioned", but under this legislation there can be no deployment whatever of Irish troops on peacekeeping missions unless there is a specific resolution of the United Nations which will give rise to that.

The Deputy mentioned Iraq. The argument put forward by the US Government, as I understand it, on the Iraq matter was that while there was no specific resolution allowing that country to go into Iraq, it did so to enforce some resolutions which were passed years earlier. That is completely different from what we are proposing. We are proposing that it is only in response to a specific resolution authorising or asking us to go into an area that we will do so. That is the factual position.

We may not get to the specific amendment on the embarkation clause. Arising from discussions with our potential European battle group partners, I have stated that it is planned that in some cases, when there is a last-minute delay about getting a United Nations resolution, for example, a battle group may be required to come together in the interests of speed. I have received advice from military personnel that the assembly will often be in the framework nation. The framework nation would be the organising country, which would provide the greatest number of troops.

I take Deputy Gormley's point that the location may be further away from the actual theatre of conflict. The main part of the force will have to come from the framework nation anyway. I have received military advice that in many but not all cases, initial assembly prior to deployment would be on the soil of the framework nation. It does not have to be so, and the advice is not exhaustive. For example, in the United Nations mission which we have been asked to sign up for with regard to forthcoming elections, much of the force will be located over the border from the Congo.

We can parse and analyse words and their meaning until the cows come home, but common sense must enter the argument at some stage. On deciding as a sovereign Government to deploy troops as part of a battle group to a war theatre, sometimes in the interests of speed and efficiency troops will be ready to go in pending the passage of a United Nations resolution, but we will not deploy them in the theatre. That is the last thing we will do. We will not have them beside the theatre of war, where they can be fired upon. If they assemble at a location other than the framework nation, they will be a safe distance from the action.

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