Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 4 together. On 21 April 2012, unanimously adopting resolution 2043 (2012), the United Nations Security Council authorised the establishment, for an initial period of 90 days, of a supervision mission, known as the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria, UNSMIS. The purpose of the mission is to monitor a cessation of armed violence "in all its forms by all parties" in Syria. The new mission is also tasked with monitoring the full implementation of the six-point plan proposed by joint special envoy for the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Mr. Kofi Annan.

On 24 April 2012, the Government approved the deployment of up to six members of the Permanent Defence Force as unarmed military observers to UNSMIS, in response to a request from the United Nations. Six Defence Forces personnel were deployed to the mission area on 11 May 2012. The role of the Irish personnel is to observe and report on the security situation and any transgressions of the ceasefire agreement and the implementation of the six-point plan.

The UN mission will comprise an initial deployment of up to 300 military observers under the command of a chief military observer with an appropriate civilian component as required by the mission to fulfil its mandate. It is estimated that all 300 observers will be on the ground by the end of this month.

The mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, mission, acting in support of the Government of Lebanon, is, inter alia, to ensure that its area of operations in southern Lebanon is not utilised for hostile activities of any kind and to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its duties under the mandate of the UN Security Council.

I am advised that there has been no reported security spillover from the Syrian situation into the UNIFIL area of operations. The Irish battalion serving with UNIFIL, currently the 106th, conducts operations solely within the UNIFIL area of operations in southern Lebanon. While I understand that there have been a number of recent security incidents along the northern Lebanese Syrian Border, this is a considerable distance from the UNIFIL area of operations and, as such, does not involve UNIFIL and is a matter essentially for the Lebanese authorities.

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