Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

Will the Minister give the numbers of men and women who are serving abroad on the various UN missions? Are the command areas evenly distributed? Is there an overlap? If someone goes to Kosovo, can he then go to Liberia on a further mission?

What about the countries operating battle groups? The memorandum of understanding does not include any specific references to the triple lock. Would it be useful to review the situation so the memorandum includes a statement on our legislative requirements before deployment abroad on a mission? Instead of advising Sweden and Finland on a personal basis, there should be a formal arrangement in the memorandum in writing.

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