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

I agree with the Deputy that Irish troops could be used very effectively in many missions all over the world. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of conflict zones requiring UN peacekeeping efforts right now. We made a judgment call, which I believe was the right judgment call, to stay as part of the UNDOF mission, although the mission came under strain and had to be reconfigured because of what happened last August. This is one of the longest serving peacekeeping missions, if not the longest, that the UN has been involved in. It has been very successful. Israel and Syria have not gone to war. This mission was put in place after the conflict between those two countries. As a result of the ongoing Syrian civil war and the incredibly complex conflict in Syria in recent years, safety levels in large parts of the Golan Heights have been compromised for peace observers. This mission is about peace observation rather than peace enforcement. Following the reconfiguring of the mission, the vast majority of troops, with the exception of some Nepalese troops, have moved to the Israeli side of the line of separation. That is where it is at. The aspiration and intention of the mission is to go back to the Syrian side when it is possible to do so.

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