Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is important to separate rhetoric on that concept from the constitutional and legal basis for the European treaties, which do not mention that.

Participation in a battle group deployment in any peacekeeping exercise would still come under the provisions of the triple lock protocol and, therefore, would require Government and Dáil approval, and must be supported by the UN. We will support the motion for these reasons.

Participation in this battle group includes a special operations task group. Does this involve the Army Ranger Wing in any way? The Minister of State secured agreement to deploy the ranger wing to Mali for peacekeeping operations. Will the resources and personnel required for domestic security be in any way undermined by our participation in this battle group?

Representatives of the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA, appeared before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence earlier to discuss peacekeeping missions and deployment of our personnel overseas. They are frustrated over the ongoing delay in publishing the Public Service Pay Commission report and to act on that matter. It is very much intertwined with what we are discussing. Our participation in EU battle groups and in international missions is underpinned by the personnel numbers in the Defence Forces. We are considerably below the White Paper target. Pay and allowances need to be restored in order that the respect and dignity of the Defence Forces can be maintained with their loyalty central to what we are doing.

This is another week of missed opportunity. When will the Minister of State publish the pay commission report? When will he act on it and treat the men and women of our Defence Forces with the respect and dignity they deserve?

They are the people who are central to these operations and battle groups. Unfortunately, we have had an ongoing fudge from the Government. There were pay increase announcements for judges and others in the public service, but our Defence Forces have been ignored. I ask the Government to please publish that report and, if it is not happy with it, to say so. It is time to restore pay and allowances for our Defence Forces.

See this speech in context