John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)

I thank the Tánaiste. Irish troops have served with distinction at Camp Shamrock for several decades, none more than Deputy Callaghan who has just departed the Chamber. We have a proud and unbroken record of deployment of troops to Lebanon. We must protect that in the best interests of Óglaigh na hÉireann as our only full-scale peacekeeping mission in the world today.

We must reiterate the point that this debate is about the opportunity for the deployment of peacekeeping missions around the world and removing that element of UN authorisation will not be seen as a weakening of our international neutrality at a time when investment in military defences is increasingly important. I commend the Tánaiste's work in this area. It is important that he has given reassurance to the public that military offence is categorically not on the agenda. We must reassure the public that Ireland will never drift into overseas military operations that have some level of EU backing without them being in compliance with the UN Charter.

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