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

I understand the point the Deputy is making and we must prioritise. The Defence Forces has limited capacity in terms of peacekeeping abroad and we do not want to spread ourselves too thinly. It is important to distinguish between peacekeeping missions or other peace support missions the UN or NATO co-ordinate and the role of the UN in that. The way the UN undertakes missions in different parts of the world has changed. The UN asks collective organisations like NATO to lead missions on behalf of the UN. Ireland is not involved in any peacekeeping missions that do not have the blessing, support or mandate of the UN. We work with international partners in order to effectively do a job in partnership with, or for, the UN. The Partnership for Peace is a good example of how people work together. The missions we are on have UN support and normally Ireland goes at the request of UN in order to do that. This week, we made a decision to send Defence Forces personnel to Sierra Leone in west Africa to support efforts to combat Ebola. If we were waiting for a UN resolution, we would have real difficulties but we are doing a job in response to a call from the UN for assistance. That is how these things work.

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