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

I want to put on the record of the House that defence force personnel from EU countries in Mali are there to try to bring stability to save lives. The French are central to these efforts. I want to read into the record from a statement on what happened in recent days and the risks they all face so that we can show a bit of respect to peacekeepers in a part of the world that would be falling apart, in my view, if it were not for the intervention of EU troops, including French troops.

At 6.25 a.m. on Friday morning last, a suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device was used to attack the overnight position of a company of mainly German soldiers serving as part of the MINUSMA mission. The purpose of the mission carried out by the German personnel was to provide an accurate assessment of the potential routes and locations that MINUSMA convoys could use if primary main supply routes became blocked. The attack took place 120 km from their main base in Gao, which is where the Irish are. There were 15 casualties in total, including 14 German and one Belgian.

Three of them were seriously injured and 13 of the wounded were evacuated to Germany on Saturday last. A number of Defence Forces personnel had participated in the operation since Wednesday, 23 June, and had occupied an overnight position some 25 km from the location of the attack on the main body of the company. As with other similar situations, part of this operation would entail the Irish personnel temporarily operating independently from the main body.

Whether it is Irish, German, French or any other EU peacekeepers, we are in a dangerous and difficult place to operate and we were lucky that nobody was killed last Friday. We should show a little bit more respect than what the Deputy has shown in his comments on French troops.

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