Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the good work being carried out by the men and women of the Defence Forces in their various peace-keeping missions abroad. These people are great ambassadors for our country through the work they are doing and the work that has been done by those who went before them on the first peace-keeping missions decades ago.

Is there a danger any of our overseas missions will be downgraded? There appears to be capacity in the Defence Forces for another UN mission if available. International pressure should be brought on the UN to intervene in Syria and if the triple-lock requirement is met, we would have the capacity to send peace-keeping troops to a country in great need of an international peace-keeping force. People there are being massacred by the hour.

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