Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, there is great volatility in the country of Syria and in that general area. The escalation of the conflict in Syria has affected the UNDOF area of operations significantly in recent months. The armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic have deployed and carried out military activities and security operations in the UNDOF area of operation. These activities are in violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement. Numerous clashes have also taken place between Syrian security forces and armed members of the opposition in the area of separation.

Given the evolving security situation, the mission has continued to reconfigure its operations with a view to ensuring the safety of the personnel while continuing to implement the mission's mandate.

UNDOF has continued to concentrate on static activities in an effort to reduce the exposure of personnel to danger while focusing on enhancing situation analysis, reporting and liaising with the parties to prevent the situation from escalating. In the context of their engagement in the area, Irish troops have performed admirably. They have been successfully engaged in matters when appropriate and I can tell the Deputy all of our troops are carrying out their duties as expected and ensuring the mission can continue in the manner that is appropriate in an area of great volatility.

None of us can be sanguine in the context of the particular area. Not only are the forces of the official Syrian Government involved, but it is now reported that there are in the range of 2,000 different groups engaged in conflict in Syria. Not all of them understand fully the mission of the UN in the area and our troops and those engaged in the mission will have to continue to engage with care and competence and with the skill exhibited elsewhere in the past by our troops.

See this speech in context