Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 9, 11, 14, 23, 25, 35, 46, 157 and 161 together.

The European Union military mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, EUFOR TCHAD/RCA, established under the authority of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1778, was formally launched by the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 28 January 2008. Ireland will be the second largest contributor to the mission with 450 personnel. The aim of the mission is to protect civilians in danger, particularly refugees and internally displaced persons, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and protect UN personnel.

The mandate for this mission is robust and will be conducted under Chapter VII of the UN charter, allowing the use of all necessary force to ensure the success of the mission. The EU force is authorised to support the UN and to take all necessary measures within its capabilities and its area of operation to fulfil its functions. EUFOR is committed to conducting its operations in a neutral and impartial manner.

A total of 83 Defence Forces personnel are currently serving with EUFOR — 18 at the operational headquarters in Paris and 65 in Chad. A ship containing all the heavy equipment of the Irish battalion, which departed Dublin on 26 March 2008, is scheduled to arrive in Douala port, Cameroon, on 12 April 2008. To date, approximately 4,000 tonnes of stores and wheeled units have been consigned to Chad.

A team of 23 Irish personnel have deployed from Ireland to Douala port to receive the ship on its arrival. This team will organise the movement forward, by road, rail and air, of the Defence Forces cargo to the headquarters of the Irish battalion at Goz Beida in eastern Chad, a distance of some 2,700 km.

The advance group of the 97th infantry battalion, comprising 177 personnel, will fly to N'Djamena at the end of April 2008. Planning is ongoing at operational headquarters in Paris regarding the onward movement of these personnel to Goz Beida. The advance group's primary mission is to construct the Irish camp in Goz Beida. The main body of the 97th infantry battalion is scheduled to arrive in Chad towards the end of May. The Netherlands will deploy a contingent of 60 personnel with EUFOR, which will be fully integrated into the Irish battalion.

The 97th infantry battalion will contribute to establishing a safe and secure environment in their area of operation, in order to contribute to protection of civilians in danger, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and the free movement of humanitarian personnel through improved security, protection of United Nations and associated personnel and encouraging the voluntary return of internally displaced persons, especially in the Dar Sila region.

The issue of the provision of subsidised leave flights to Ireland does not arise in the context of the EUFOR TCHAD/RCA mission as personnel will be on a four month tour of duty and will not be availing of mission leave.

Because of the nature of the operation and the mission area and environment, force protection will be a key consideration. The Defence Forces will deploy a full range of force protection assets including armoured personnel carriers. The military authorities have indicated that, while the level of risk is consistent with any operational deployment into a troubled African state, it is one that the Defence Forces has the capability to manage.

Troops selected for overseas service undergo a rigorous programme of training designed to help them carry out their peacekeeping mission and to provide for their protection. Pre-deployment training is updated in the light of up-to-date threat assessments. Prior to deployment on missions, training packages, including realistic mission readiness exercises, are conducted and validated to ensure units are thoroughly prepared.

There are no concerns about the supply of water available in Chad to meet the needs of the Irish contingent. The Defence Forces have advised that two wells have been drilled on the site of the Irish camp in Goz Beida and will be more then adequate to provide a water supply to the Irish contingent and associated personnel when fully operational. These wells can produce 3.2 cu. m of water per hour. The water will be treated by the Defence Forces water purification system which was used in the UNMIL deployment in Liberia and proved highly successful. As a contingency a continuous supply of first quality bottled water has been sourced and is already being positioned for the arrival into theatre of the advance and main body personnel. This supply will be used during the initial part of the camp build until engineer assets bring water on line. Thereafter a strategic stock of bottled water will be maintained in the Irish camp for any unforeseen contingency.

In the mission area each battalion will provide a role 1 medical facility at the battalion headquarters, which is Goz Beida in the case of the Irish battalion. Three role 2 facilities are available N'Djamena, Abeche and Birao in the Central African Republic.

The Minister for Defence visited the mission's operation headquarters in Paris and met with the operation commander, Lt General Pat Nash. He briefed the Minister on the current situation and the plans for recommencement of deployment of EUFOR troops to the mission area. The Minister for Defence also had informal discussions with Lt General Nash on his most recent visit to Dublin. Lt General Nash informed him that on the basis of the threat assessment undertaken, the size and composition of the force was based on a number of principles, namely, force protection, communications, mobility and fire power. Consequently he is confident that the force is adequate to carry out this mission.

The Defence Forces have deployed a suite of secure, robust, state-of-the-art tactical communications systems to the EUFOR mission. These systems have been deployed in appropriate quantities to support the effective conduct of operations. Regarding communications between Chad and Ireland, the Defence Forces' communications and information services corps is providing satellite communications and high frequency radio, e-mail and telephone access to the Defence Forces' networked management and administration information systems. All personnel will be provided with the facilities to make telephone calls to family and friends and will have access to the Internet.

In early February and on 1 April, fighting took place between Chadian forces and rebels, but EUFOR personnel were not involved. The Defence Forces have advised that the situation in the Republic of Chad is calm. Key enablers, particularly tactical and medevac helicopters and medical facilities, are in place, thus allowing the mission to proceed. The required logistical planning and preparation for the support and sustaining of Irish troops has been completed. Being satisfied that the capabilities required to support EUFOR's main force deployment had been established, Lieutenant General Nash, EUFOR operation commander, declared that the mission had achieved initial operational capability on 15 March 2008. This marked the start date of the 12-month duration of the operation as set out in UN Security Council Resolution 1778 of 2007.

When the full EU force is deployed, it will comprise 3,700 personnel. A total of 1,800 EUFOR personnel are already deployed in Chad, affording the operation commander and his staff the opportunity to plan for the follow-on deployment of three multinational battalions, including the Irish battalion. The mission is planned to reach full operational capability by mid to late May 2008.

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