Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To respond generally to the Deputy, I have questioned the mandate, as has the Taoiseach. It is intended to maintain this mission as a Chapter VI mission. We will not move into the territory of peace enforcement and I will not, under any circumstances, send Irish troops on a peacekeeping mission to become involved in a civil war or trying to enforce peace in a civil war. That is not what we are doing. The purpose of the mission is to observe the 1974 armistice between Israel and Syria and it will continue to be to observe adherence to that armistice. The mission has been significantly complicated by the civil war in Syria. Most of the Golan Heights which was a demilitarised, supervised zone is now in the hands and under the control of rebel forces, which significantly complicates the position.

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