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

What we are talking about now is a non-combat support mission to help with governance and security which are primarily provided by local populations in Afghanistan.

That is what is being supported by Ireland. We are supporting something that has been unanimously supported by the UN Security Council. We are providing seven people who have a specific training role and who are more than welcome both locally in Kabul and by the UN. A great many other countries are also participating in the Resolute Support mission. I do not have the exact figure, but it is more than 20 countries. This is a non-combat, non-military assistance programme whose aim is to help build domestic capacity in a country that has been torn apart and is trying to put itself back together over time. I am happy that Ireland is playing a small but real and significant role in those efforts.

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