Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too pay tribute to all members of the Defence Forces serving in Lebanon and their families at this extremely worrying time. It is important that all of the different European states affected come together and call out the actions but further action is needed because Israel is ignoring any words calling out what it has been doing. There were incidents in the 1980s where troops were actually kidnapped. We do not want to see any of our troops coming to harm. I am particularly worried about the troops in the outposts. I was informed that some troops returned to Ireland on scheduled leave recently. Were all of them able to return? Is the unit there at full strength? Is there pressure on those who remain in carrying out their duties? With regard to the rations going to the outposts rather than to Camp Shamrock, there is concern that the supply of fresh water and fresh food is not getting in. The dried variant is okay for a day or two but not on a long-term basis.

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