Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At the NATO Warsaw summit in July this year which I attended the establishment of a military presence in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland was announced. This military presence, also known as the Russian deterrent force, is being established in the Baltic region by NATO. The establishment which will be led by the USA, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada will comprise four multinational battalions of 1,000 troops each. Ireland's co-operation with NATO is conducted through Partnership for Peace. The primary aim of our PfP membership is to enhance the Defence Forces' interoperability with other professional military forces for the purpose of engaging in UN-authorised peacekeeping and peace support operations led by the United Nations, the European Union or NATO. Participation in Partnership for Peace is fundamental to Ireland being able to meet its obligation to provide professional peacekeepers for international crisis management and peacekeeping operations mandated by the United Nations. The deployment of the Russian deterrent force is related to NATO's mutual defence capacity. As a matter of policy, Ireland does not participate in mutual defence arrangements and, as such, will not be participating in the Russian deterrent force.

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