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

That reflects the view of us all. Every time I speak to troops before they leave and speak to their families, I am conscious of that. I wish to reassure families who have sons and daughters and husbands and wives serving in the Golan Heights that we continue to focus on ensuring we are managing risk in an acceptable way. This is a very important mission for the United Nations and it relies heavily on Ireland's participation in it, but I do not make any decisions lightly in terms of putting our troops in harm's way. They are contributing to the creation of a sense of stability in a very volatile region. They are safe and we are managing risk as best we can. That would be reflected in the troops who came back on the previous occasion. I do not expect that the mission will change significantly in terms of going back into the area of separation any time soon. That is obviously the long-term objective but for the moment, staying on the Israeli side of the line of separation is the most prudent and safest thing to do, and that is why we have made the changes we have.

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