Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The motion before us is to refer a motion to committee. I will certainly be supporting that proposal. I will not spend too long speaking on the motion. As I have said in other fora, if an issue has to be referred to committee for greater scrutiny we do not need an in-depth debate on it at the point of referral. We need consistency on these matters irrespective of the topic of the matter for referral. The first Members to discuss matters such as these should be the members of the relevant committee. Be that as it may, I will say a few words on the matter.

Military searches are an essential part of the work of our Defence Forces. It is crucial that every peacekeeper is trained in detecting any form of improvised explosive device that may be in his or her path. The purpose of Ireland's participation in this project is to increase the proficiency of the Defence Forces corps of engineers by bringing its teams to an advanced level of search capability. These teams are required to develop certain skills for overseas missions mandated by the United Nations and this project would assist the Defence Forces in meeting these requirements.

Without advanced search capability, personnel are put at risk because they are not trained to conduct all forms of military searches. There must be consistency across peacekeeping forces because when forces from different nations are working alongside one another they must be confident that every individual is trained to the most advanced level. By not joining this project the Defence Forces corps of engineers would be left out of important training exercises and would struggle to maintain its reputation as an exemplary peacekeeping force. Currently there is a deficiency within the Defence Forces because none of the individuals is trained to the advanced level of ESSC capability. These forces have yet to be trained to conduct searches in hazardous environments, in confined spaces, or in chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear environments. Military search capability building would rectify this problem and bring the force back to a proper standard.

I look forward to this being discussed and teased out further in committee before returning for a wider debate open to all Members in this Chamber at a later date.

See this speech in context