Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

These reports highlight one element of Irish foreign policy which I believe we can take the most pride in, namely, the work of our approximately 600 Defence Forces personnel in peacekeeping missions throughout the world. Our Defence Forces are helping to maintain peace and security in Lebanon, the Golan Heights, Western Sahara, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mali and they continue to serve with distinction in the Mediterranean as part of Operation Sophia. We are proud of the work we do, the lives we protect and the peace and security we provide. As stated in the report's conclusions, this is a very practical expression of the values which we hold dear as a nation and of our commitment to the UN and multilateralism.

The Army is recognised as having world class expertise. As part of UN peacekeeping work, Ireland has been involved in the destruction of mines, the removal of dangerous chemicals and the destruction of ammunition for small arms in the Balkans and Ukraine. However, our Defence Forces serving in the UN, particularly in Lebanon and on the Golan Heights, are facing increasing challenges due to the rapidly changing geopolitical situation in the region. Prior to the outbreak of war in Syria, this was a relatively uneventful UN mission, but it has now changed dramatically as the war has spilled over into the UN zone on a number of occasions. As Irish troops continue their deployment, the possibility of military action by Israel in the Golan also remains a serious threat. President Trump’s decision to approve US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights will only serve to further heighten tensions.

Likewise, under the Trump administration, the US has publicly criticised UNIFIL and pushed for a more robust response from UNIFIL to the perceived threat from armed groups. This criticism is unfair and unwarranted, and only serves to undermine the positive role UNIFIL plays in maintaining peace in the region. It also raises important questions for UN peacekeeping in general, as a recent UN-commissioned report also advocated a more proactive UN posture in the region.

The Labour Party believes that a clear distinction between traditional peacekeeping and operations involving some degree of enforcement is needed, and these lines should not be blurred to serve the foreign policy agenda of others. This is not just important for the UN, but also for contributing states like Ireland, if our hard-won reputation as an impartial and neutral actor is to be maintained.

Participation in UN-mandated peacekeeping operations does not and should not challenge our military neutrality. What these peacekeeping missions show is that there is another way to enter into military engagements, and PESCO is not the answer. We have spoken in this House many times in recent years about the fragility of the global order. The rise of the right and the chaotic breakdown in some parts of previous norms means that the immediate future is uncertain and unknown. However, now is not a time for Ireland to jump into that unknown space. Our tradition of working within UN parameters is one that Irish people trust and believe in. We must protect it and strengthen those global peacekeeping links. We believe the triple lock approach with a UN mandate is the right approach for Ireland. It allows us to express our values of peace-building and peace-making in a practical and active manner, but guards against any creeping militarisation which may emerge in Europe.

Our own region in Europe is going through its own political instability at this time. We need to work with our European partners to deliver a social and just Europe politically. However, there is no need for us to pursue closer and costly military relationships, as some have recently suggested. Defence spending in Ireland is currently the lowest in the European Union, at around 0.3% of GDP in 2017, compared to an EU average of 1.3% and spending is as high as 1.8% in France or 1.9% in the UK. That is as it should be. We should not be spending a lot of money on defence, although I would like to see us spending more when it comes to the pay and conditions of our Defence Forces personnel.

As the Labour Party has stated many times in this House, many serving members are on shockingly low wages, and last year it emerged many are on family income supplement. The Defence Forces' members are the lowest paid workers in the public service, and this simply needs to change. Continued supports are also needed for our soldiers post-deployment. This morning, it emerged that five soldiers who survived the siege of Jadotville during a UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo in 1961 tragically took their own lives in later years. Although times have changed, the risks, both physical and psychological, that our soldiers face are not. To date, a total of 86 members of the Defence Forces have died while on missions, with many more injured physically or mentally. It is scandalous that the Defence Forces have been without an in-house psychiatrist since May 2018, and an appointment is unlikely to be made until almost 2020. Up to 50 Defence Forces personnel remain on a months-long waiting list for psychiatric appointments due to the Government’s failure to find a replacement for the military’s retired in-house clinician during the past year. This is not good enough.

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