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

I state categorically that Irish troops were never instructed to surrender. It is important to understand the role of Irish troops in the UNDOF mission; they are called a mobile force reserve. Most of the UN peacekeeping force are relatively lightly armed with rifles. However, the Irish contingent is different in that our troops operate in armoured vehicles known as Mowag vehicles with a mounted machine-gun. Troops are heavily armed and they are sent in to resolve difficult or awkward situations if and when these arise. This is the reason they have been so actively involved in the past weeks. For example, the Irish troops were the last troops to leave Camp Faouar, which was UNDOF's headquarters up to a few days ago. They have now redeployed into Camp Ziouani on the Israeli side of what is called the Alpha line.

I reiterate that the Irish troops were never asked to surrender. Other UN troops were in very difficult situations where the commanding officer needed to make sensible decisions to protect his troops and I believe he made the right decisions at the right time.

We have asked for reassurance from the United Nations which has extensive experience both in the Middle East and in Golan - UNDOF has been there since 1974. We need to respond on the ground to a significant change in conditions so that we can have a peace observation mission consistent with the mandate but which manages risk in an appropriate way. As I said earlier, I will not send Irish troops into a civil war situation; that is not their job nor is it the mandate and they should not be exposed to such a situation. They are highly trained and can deal with very difficult and awkward situations but the structures of this mission need to be adapted and are being adapted to address the change on the ground and we must wait to see whether this change may be temporary or permanent.

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