Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to make some comments on this very important debate on whether this House should authorise the dispatch of a naval vessel, LÉ William Butler Yeats, to the Mediterranean for approximately five weeks this summer.

I am supportive of the motion for a number of reasons. It is very important the arms embargo on Libya is maintained to maintain regional stability in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2635. It is also very important to recognise that Ireland voted for that resolution when we had a seat on the Security Council last year. It is good we are following through on that. We are not putting boots in the ground but we are putting a hull in the water, so to speak, and it is very important that we are following through on our commitments at the Security Council table. I also recognise the importance of the motion from an operational point of view. Many young sailors may not have been around for operations Pontus and Sophia. They are used to the north Atlantic but will now get additional expertise on the Mediterranean, which will be good for their personal and professional development.

My concerns are very similar to those already expressed in the House. We are leaving a gap in our defences on this island. While the Air Corps maritime squadron can provide some temporary filling of that gap, there is no substitute for hulls in the water or a maritime presence. We need to get our Naval Service back up to more than 1,000 people as soon as possible. From a welfare point of view, I welcome the fact there is a commitment, which I presume will be delivered on, that the overseas armed peace support allowance will be paid from day one, unlike what happened in previous deployments to the Mediterranean. There is, however, still a query regarding patrol duty allowance, PDA. There were considerable discussions recently about perhaps doubling this allowance. It is only €60 a day, which works out at approximately €1.20 per hour after tax. It would be great if we got a commitment that PDA will be sorted before the LÉ William Butler Yeatsdeploys to the Mediterranean. Providing proper pay so that people can afford to stay is the only way to address the recruitment and retention crisis in the Naval Service.

From an Operation Irini point of view, I wish the ship, LÉ William Butler Yeats, its commander, Lieutenant Commander Paul Hegarty, and the crew the very best on their important deployment. Most importantly, I wish their families well. They will obviously hold the fort at home before the ship returns safely from foreign waters.

I will address the issue of Sudan in my remaining two and a half minutes. It is a country that is south east of Libya. I ask the Minister of State to pass on my gratitude to the Tánaiste for the clarity he brought to proceedings yesterday, when he spoke from Luxembourg on national radio and stated that these non-combatant evacuation operations, NEO, are classed as humanitarian in nature and do not require the triple lock to be satisfied. The Tánaiste cut through many layers of bureaucracy, pontification and paralysis, and assured the country we do not need to limit the number of troops we deploy to 12, which is very important.

I also thank Deputy Boyd Barrett - perhaps Deputy Paul Murphy will pass this on to him - who made a very solid and sound commitment on Newstalk yesterday stating he was in favour of getting large freighter-style aircraft so that we can rescue Irish citizens abroad and deploy our troops. To be fair to him, that is a consistent position Deputy Boyd Barrett has held for the past three years. When Deputy Kehoe was Minister of State at the Department of Defence, and a battalion of Irish troops was stranded in Lebanon, Deputy Boyd Barrett was keen to get the proper resources so we could fly them home as soon as possible.

From a legal perspective, these evacuation operations are good. From a political perspective, they have the backing of the House. The question is that from a financial perspective, they do not have that backing. By any measure, the deployment of our troops over the past few days has been suboptimal. That is probably the best way I could describe it and the most generous fashion. We need more investment in our armed forces. We are a complete outlier on this in comparison with our European Union colleagues. It is just not good enough. We are compromising the health and wellbeing of our armed forces, while our citizens are on the ground at present trying to get rescued.

I pass on my compliments to our troops and diplomats in Djibouti and beyond. They epitomise what the Irish public service and our troops are like. It is the concept of the humble hero. They never look for or seek recognition and neither do their families at home. The very least they deserve is the gratitude of this House and I am very happy to give it.

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