Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I do not agree with him on the restrictions he seeks to place on our Defence Forces. Our Defence Forces must be and are prepared to engage in whatever conflict arises. They have shown strength and determination to do that very effectively in the past, and I have no doubt they will do it in future.

The European battle groups, which have been referred to with disdain in some quarters, are an area in which we, as good upright members of the European Union, will be expected to contribute. I see nothing wrong with that as our Defence Forces are supportive of the notion. They wish to involve themselves in training and security enforcement which may be necessary in certain circumstances. We do not always call it peacekeeping and this will emerge to a far greater extent in the future than we have seen in the past.

I have listened to the Minister in the past and I know he takes issues as they come. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand what he has in mind for the future but we are at one on this matter.

This in no way infringes on our neutrality as it is a commitment by the Irish Defence Forces, in the context of the European Union and in keeping with the triple lock mechanism, to ensure we are seen to be making a worthwhile contribution to European defence and security. That is part and parcel of membership of the European Union and we cannot walk away, pretending we have no responsibility in the area.

Today we had a delegation before the Joint Committee on European Affairs from the Serbian Parliament, which was led by a senior member. It is sad to think of the events which occurred within the European Continent in the past 14 or 15 years. One shudders when visiting the Balkans and seeing that strife was so violent, the cemeteries are full to the gates. The only difference between the sides is that on one hand the people are Christians and on the other they are Muslim. It does not make any real difference as they all died. These people died on our doorstep, as the European Union at that time had the strength but not the will to deal with the matter. That is something we must consider in future in the context of peace enforcement by the European Union groups. I have no doubt they will be called upon.

As others have stated, the role in Chad could be quite difficult. It is not any more difficult than some of the tasks which have come the way of the Defence Forces in the past and I have no doubt they will be well capable of handling it. We must realise it could be a different scenario from some of the other matters we have dealt with in the past. For that reason I have mentioned the possibility of increasing the strength of the contingent. Such an option, along with ensuring adequate supply and transport facilities are made available, could ensure the Defence Forces become self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency is very important in this type of action.

Some weeks ago I was watching a television programme late one night which showed that in an African country not so long ago, a protracted outbreak of violence took place as a result of which some 500,000 people were killed. This occurred mainly because nobody was there to intervene. An outside authority intervened but to no avail. No outside body was in a position to intervene to act as a buffer in the conflict taking place. As time goes on the developed world is expected to contribute to such situations in a positive manner, which this deployment will do. I have received answers to various parliamentary questions but I believe there is a case to be made for increasing the strength of the Defence Forces, as well as the scale and extent of their commitment and hardware in view of the extra responsibilities thrust upon them.

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