Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann approves Ireland's accession to the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Principles for the Establishment and Operation of a Multinational Battle Group to be made available to the European Union and to the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Principles for the Cooperation Regarding the OHQ-Function for the Nordic Battle Group.

As Deputies will recall, we have previously discussed the issue of Ireland's participation in EU battle groups, in particular when we debated the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 last summer. The issue now before the House relates to the terms of agreement for Ireland's participation in the Nordic battle group. Before going through the specifics of the memoranda of understanding, MoUs, I would like to just set out some of the background to our proposed participation.

The ambition of the EU to be able to respond rapidly to emerging crises has been, and continues to be, a key objective in the development of European security and defence policy. In the Headline Goal 2010, the EU set itself the objective of being able "to respond with rapid and decisive action, applying a fully coherent approach to the whole spectrum of crisis management operations covered by the Treaty on the European Union". A key element of the headline goal is the capability to deploy forces at high readiness, broadly based on the battle groups concept. The purpose of the EU battle groups is to undertake operations known as the Petersberg Tasks, which include humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking. These tasks are consistent with our national traditions in peacekeeping and peace support operations.

As I have done on many previous occasions, I would once again emphasise that the creation of battle groups does not alter the scope or purpose of European security and defence policy or the Petersberg Tasks. These are firmly rooted in the Treaty on European Union, as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam, both of which the people approved by referendum. Nor are battle groups linked to the concept of a possible EU common defence. The purpose of battle groups is, very simply, to enable the European Union to be more effective in contributing to international peace and security in support of the United Nations by putting in place a rapid response capability. In this regard, I again recall the strong support of the United Nations for the EU's efforts in this direction.

In January of this year, the EU achieved full battle group operational capability, which means that two battle groups are on standby for periods of six months at a time. In an informal decision, taken at its meeting in January 2006, the Government agreed that I could enter into discussions with Sweden and other like-minded nations on Ireland's contribution to EU battle groups.

Representatives from the Department of Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Defence Forces have met their Swedish counterparts on a number of occasions to discuss possible participation by the Defence Forces in the Nordic battle group. Following these discussions, Sweden, as the framework nation for the Nordic battle group, advised that it would welcome a contribution from Ireland to the Nordic battle group, subject to Ireland's agreement to sign the memorandum of understanding, MoU, for the Nordic battle group and the memorandum of understanding regarding the use of Northwood in the UK as the operational headquarters for the Nordic battle group.

In July last year, the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 was enacted by the Oireachtas. The Act provided for, among other things, participation by the Defence Forces in overseas training and field manoeuvres, participation by the Defence Forces in humanitarian operations and for early pre-assembly and dispatch of contingents. While not solely related to our possible participation in EU battle groups, these were important provisions in facilitating and furthering our engagement with the participants in the Nordic battle group. Following enactment of the legislation, discussions with Sweden continued in earnest and the detailed provisions of Ireland's participation in the Nordic battle group were agreed, subject to Government and Dáil approval.

At its meeting of 14 November 2006, the Government formally approved the arrangements for Ireland's participation in the Nordic battle group, agreeing to provide a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force to participate in the battle group and to sign the memorandum of understanding for the Nordic battle group, subject to the approval of Dáil Éireann.

I would now like to outline to the House the detailed elements of Ireland's contribution to the Nordic battle group. The Defence Forces will contribute an explosive ordnance disposal and improvised explosive device disposal, EOD-IEDD, contingent with its own security detail, together with staff posts at the operational and force headquarters. EOD relates to normal type munitions whereas IEDD generally refers to devices devised by terrorist groups, such as car bombs.

It is expected that between 80 and 100 Defence Forces personnel will be involved. This level of commitment will only arise should the battle group be called upon to undertake an operation. The number of personnel involved operationally during the stand-by period, where the battle group has not been mobilised to undertake an operation, will be approximately 15.

Any contribution to a battle group will be met within the context of the overall ceiling set in the White Paper on Defence of 850 personnel serving overseas at one time and will have no adverse impact on our existing peace support operations. It goes without saying that any deployment of the Irish element of the battle group on an operational mission will, as always, be subject to the requirements of the triple lock.

To address the issue at hand, the Nordic battle group memorandum of understanding is an agreement between the participants comprising the Nordic battle group, namely, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Estonia, which sets out principles in respect of the operation, deployment and management of the Nordic battle group. The memorandum of understanding, MoU, has been signed by the existing participants in the battle group. Ireland will join to the MoU through an exchange of letters with each of the existing participants in the form of the letter of accession included in the documents laid before Dáil Éireann on 22 March 2007.

I propose to outline each of the provisions of the memoranda of understanding. Sections 1 and 2 deal with the definitions and reference documents, respectively. Section 3 outlines the purpose of the memorandum of understanding as a framework document, which sets out principles in respect of the operation, deployment and management of the Nordic battle group. Section 4 deals with the scope of the memorandum of understanding.

I draw the attention of Deputies to the fact that the memorandum of understanding specifically recognises the sovereignty of each participant in terms of any decision to deploy its forces being in accordance with its own national law. This principle is reiterated in section 6 of the memorandum of understanding. In Ireland's case this means that any decision to participate in a battle group operation, irrespective of our joining the memorandum of understanding, would be subject to a further decision in accordance with the provisions of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006.

Section 5 sets out the purpose of the Nordic battle group as a means to support the development of European Security and Defence Policy through its participation in European Union led crisis management operations. This reflects the aim of the EU to react quickly across the spectrum of crisis management tasks, as outlined in the Headline Goal 2010.

Sections 6 and 7 set out the principles for deploying and withdrawing the Nordic battle group. The battle group will only be deployed following the appropriate EU decision-making process. Each participant retains the right to deploy or not deploy its forces, irrespective of an EU decision to launch a battle group operation. Equally, each participant retains the sovereign right to withdraw its contingent at any time. With regard to the general withdrawal of the battle group or elements of it, the memorandum of understanding provides that such decisions will be made on the basis of consensus following EU decisions.

Section 8 outlines the political-military consultation process. It envisages that regular consultation between participants will be required before and during the stand-by period. Sweden, as the framework nation, will lead the consultations and all decisions will be made on the basis of consensus.

Section 9 deals with the establishment phase. During this phase, co-ordination of the policy and military issues relating to the battle group will take place in the framework of NORDCAPS. This is a co-operation arrangement between the Nordic countries for co-ordination and planning of peace support operations. Ireland and Estonia are not members of NORDCAPS but will participate in its meetings when battle group issues are discussed.

Section 10 details the arrangements for force contribution, generation and tailoring. Participants make their offers to the battle group at co-ordination conferences and each contribution is laid out in a technical arrangement. The force commander may alter the overall make-up of the force for a specific battle group deployment depending on the nature of the operation and the forces offered.

Section 11 discusses command and control arrangements. Sweden, as a framework nation, will lead the force headquarters, with all participants able to hold positions in headquarters. The command of each contingent remains under national control, with operational control delegated to the operational commander. This is in accordance with EU crisis management concepts and standard operating procedure in a multinational force. The same arrangement applies where Ireland is engaged in UN "blue hat" operations.

Training is discussed in section 12. It will be necessary for the various participants of the battle group to train together in accordance with EU standards. Most battle group training will take place in the contributing member states, which means Irish troops will mainly be trained in Ireland. That said, some level of joint training with other battle group elements will be required. It is planned that joint training of the Nordic battle group elements, including field manoeuvres, will take place in Sweden in September and October 2007 for a period of approximately three to four weeks. The full operational capability of the Nordic battle group will then be assessed and the battle group will be on stand-by from January 2008 for a period of six months. There will be no joint field training or exercises held in Ireland.

Section 13 notes that the battle group will be certified in accordance with agreed EU procedures. Section 14 deals with the status of forces in terms of jurisdiction and discipline, while section 15 deals with claims and liabilities. When a battle group participant is within the territory of another participant, the issues of jurisdiction and discipline and claims and liabilities of forces will be dealt with in accordance with the NATO Partnership for Peace status of forces agreement, SOFA.

A SOFA is an agreement on the status of personnel engaged on overseas training and operations, whereby the host country agrees to extend certain rights and privileges to such personnel. These include arrangements regarding jurisdiction in respect of certain crimes, powers of military police, enforcement of discipline by the superiors of the relevant personnel and determination of liability for damage to the property of third parties.

In the case of the Nordic battle group, the NATO PfP SOFA is the one being used. The application of this status of forces agreement is a common requirement for participation in all European Union and NATO PfP led peace support operations. It applies in the case of our participation in KFOR in Kosovo, ISAF in Afghanistan, EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina and EUFOR in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While all the other Nordic battle group participants have signed the NATO PfP SOFA, Ireland has not done so. We have previously acceded to the relevant provisions of the agreement, generally through an exchange of letters with the European Union, NATO or lead framework nation for any operation in which we are engaged. The Attorney General has considered this matter in detail and has advised that there is no impediment to Ireland agreeing to be bound by the relevant provisions of the SOFA, as provided for in this memorandum of understanding. As a result, Defence Forces personnel will be subject to the terms of such agreements in terms of jurisdiction and discipline and claims and liabilities when in the territory of another participant. As no battle group activities involving forces from other participants can take place here, Ireland will not be required to extend the relevant provisions of the status of forces agreements to foreign forces. This has been agreed with Sweden as framework nation for the Nordic battle group.

Section 16 outlines the arrangements in terms of financing. Individual costs, other than those deemed to be common costs, will be the responsibility of each participant. Section 17 notes that regulations in terms of logistics are to be dealt with in technical arrangements.

Security regulations are outlined in section 18. All exchange of classified information will be handled in accordance with EU security regulations. Each participant will appoint a designated security authority to deal with any security issues that arise. Section 19 notes that third parties can be invited to participate in the battle group based on consensus among participants. Section 20 notes that the memorandum of understanding will take effect from the date of the last signature. Participants may withdraw from the memorandum of understanding with six months written notice.

Section 21 deals with modifications, amendments and disputes. The memorandum of understanding may be modified with written consent of all participants and any dispute will be handled through negotiation between participants. In addition to the Nordic battle group memorandum of understanding, Ireland is required to enter into an MoU with the United Kingdom on the use of Northwood and the staff to be based there.

The operational headquarters for the Nordic battle group will be located at Northwood in the UK. An operational headquarters is a complex facility, providing strategic direction and advice to the force on the ground. There are only a small number of such facilities in Europe, mainly in the larger member states. Northwood has the necessary infrastructure, communications systems, facilities and support, which are not otherwise available within the member states contributing to the Nordic battle group. The operational commander and headquarters staff for the Nordic battle group, which will be drawn from the participating member states, will be based in Northwood for the duration of the standby period.

The memorandum of understanding for the operational headquarters broadly follows the same structure as the main battle group MoU and conforms to all EU agreed guidelines on battle groups. Its purpose is to define the aim, principles and responsibilities for co-operation with regard to the establishment and operation of the EU operational headquarters in Northwood for the command and control of the Nordic battle group. It details the right of access to the operational headquarters for appointed staff of the Nordic battle group during the establishment, pre-activation, activation and redeployment phases.

Section 9 outlines the command and control arrangements. As in the memorandum of understanding for the Nordic battle group, the operation commander will be appointed by the council but all personnel contributed by individual participants remain under full command of the sending participant.

It is vitally important at this stage that our participation in the Nordic battle group is formalised in order that we can fully participate. I commend the motion to the House.

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