Dáil debates

Tuesday, 12 October 2004

Priority Questions.

Overseas Missions.

2:30 pm

Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 2: To ask the Minister for Defence if he has plans to review the €500 charge levied on Irish troops serving in Liberia who wish to return here for holidays; his views on whether it is acceptable that troops serving in Liberia are advised to purchase for themselves mosquito nets and repellents rather than be supplied with these items as part of the normal equipment given to troops serving in this part of the world; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24410/04]

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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As the House will be aware, a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force, comprising 435 personnel, is serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia, or UNMIL, since December 2003. Defence Forces personnel serving with the mission are entitled to 21 days annual leave for the duration of their tour of duty, which is six months.

I am advised that the average cost of a return commercial scheduled flight ticket Dublin to Monrovia is €1,200. Members of the Irish contingent in Liberia have the opportunity to avail of a subsidised leave flight to Ireland during their tour of duty in Liberia. Arrangements were made by my predecessor to allow personnel serving in Liberia to avail of aircraft chartered for the deployment, consignment and/or repatriation of personnel, stores and equipment to and from the mission area. Access to these flights is made available, space permitting, to personnel who are: availing of leave; travelling to or from the mission area on duty; or being repatriated from the mission area.

In the case of personnel who are availing of the flights for leave purposes, a contribution of €500 is provided by each individual and a mechanism to have the sum deducted at source from the individual's overseas allowance has been agreed with the Department's financial accounts section. There has been a very high uptake of the facility by members of the 90th and 91st infantry battalions to date. Of the 90th infantry battalion, 96.5% of its members availed of the facility. The present battalion, that is the 91st infantry battalion, shows a similar take up. There are no plans at present to alter the current arrangements. However, the matter will be kept under review.

I am advised that all Irish personnel are issued with mosquito nets as well as two types of mosquito repellent, one for application to the mosquito net and the other for normal skin application.

Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I join my colleague in congratulating the Minister. It is rather extraordinary that Irish soldiers in Liberia who have to travel home are being charged €500 for the trip. That is unfair, as is the suggestion that troops should buy their own mosquito nets and repellent. How can that be justified? If our soldiers are serving abroad and they are charged to come home on holiday, why are they also charged to buy their own mosquito nets and repellents? They are our soldiers serving abroad. I would like to hear the Minister justify that. He answered part of the next part of my question. What provisions are in place for medical cover and care for troops? Is he satisfied that this is adequate? Is he satisfied with the level of accommodation available for troops?

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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It is quite generous. My predecessor, Deputy Michael Smith, made an arrangement that a commercial flight costing €1,200 would be given to people serving in Liberia for €500. That €500 would be deducted from their overseas allowance, which accumulates over the six month period they are there. That is a generous arrangement. When I was in Letterkenny last week, I took the opportunity to speak on an individual basis to various members of PDFORRA about the gripes they had. Not one person mentioned this as a difficulty. I have spoken to the chief of staff about the matter. Army personnel tell me that if someone wants to avail of this arrangement and wants to do it in a less painful manner, such as having the money deducted over a longer time, then the army is disposed to look favourably at arrangements such as this.

With regard to the second part of the question, I do not have to justify a situation whereby people are asked to purchase their own mosquito nets. The simple fact is that they are not asked to do so. I am afraid Deputy Sherlock, whom I thank for his kind words, is misinformed in that regard. The information available to me is that those things are supplied to the troops.

Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I am well informed that our troops are not supplied with such equipment. That can be verified if the Minister wants to check the position. Will he indicate how long contingents spend in Liberia? How often do personnel serving there have the opportunity to return home, and what procedures are in place to allow them to keep in touch with their families?

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I must contradict the Deputy. My information is that the troops are supplied with the relevant protective equipment, mosquito nets etc. They are allowed 21 days' leave during their six-month service period. They can avail of this generous charter flight offer, space permitting. Some 96% of the original brigade availed of it. It appears the uptake among the troops currently serving there will be similar. Nobody has made complaints to me about this matter. If people consider the cost involved could be deducted in another way that would be less painful for the person who has to pay for the flight, we would be well disposed to examining that.

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 3: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will consider reviewing the Government's policy of meeting Defence Force commitments to UNSAS and the EU rapid reaction force from the same pool. [24294/04]

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland's commitment to the headline goal consists of an offer of up to 850 members of the Defence Forces from within our existing commitment of 850 personnel to the United Nations Standby Arrangements System, UNSAS. I stress that the commitment to the headline goal should not be interpreted as an additional commitment of the Defence Forces to overseas operations. Any new commitments to the 2010 headline goal will be from within these arrangements. I have no plans to change the arrangements for Ireland's contribution to this commitment or the headline goal.

Ireland's commitment to international peacekeeping, humanitarian and crisis management operations represents some 10% of our Army and is not an inconsiderable undertaking by any standard. It is worth noting that 740 members of the Defence Forces are deployed overseas making significant contributions to Kosovo and the United Nations Mission in Liberia. I am delighted the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, will this week meet members of the Defence Forces who have contributed to our proud record of participation on peacekeeping operations overseas.

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I preface my question by clearly stating that Sinn Féin believes the UN should and must develop urgently the capacity for genocide prevention. There cannot be a higher priority for the international community to address as a whole.

The Minister referred to the UN Secretary General. On Thursday, the Secretary General will pitch Irish involvement in the new EU rapid deployment battle groups and inform us that he welcomes the outsourcing of UN peacekeeping operations to the EU. The justification for this from his point of view is the urgent need to develop genocide prevention capacity. Does the Minister accept it is no accident the UN's peacekeeping capacity is so weak and that the reason for this is that for decades it has been systematically starved of resources? The EU, which is in a position to change this, has selfishly focused on developing its own capacity and military alliance.

The Brahimi report on peacekeeping operations found that this development has been a significant contribution to the UN's current difficulties. Does the Minister accept that policies such as those of the Department of Defence of failing to prioritise and adequately resource UN-led missions first and foremost is contributing to the erosion of the UN's in-house peacekeeping capacity? Does he accept that we have a responsibility to earmark Defence Forces personnel for UN-led operations to strengthen the capacity lost to regional military alliances, as is happening at present? How can he ignore the significant finding of the Brahimi report on this and that Government policy is contributing to the undermining of the UN system by threatening it with redundancy? Why is the Government, which in the past professed UN primacy as a central tenet of our foreign policy, contributing to the problem rather than seeking to find a solution?

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has taken no decision to date on participation or non-participation in the battle group concept to which the Deputy referred. I do not accept there is a widespread conspiracy to deprive the UN of sufficient troops for peacekeeping to allow the EU to develop its capacity. It came to world attention in the early 1990s, especially in the situation in the Balkans, that people can be slaughtered, murdered, raped and attacked on European soil and at that time the European Union had no capacity to do anything about it. The nations of Europe decided collectively that they should get involved in peacekeeping and peacemaking in such circumstances, not only outside Europe but also on European soil. This development is not in competition with UN policy but has occurred in tandem with it and with UN agreement. The UN specifically requested the EU to become involved in some of the missions in which it has become involved latterly, including the mission in Macedonia and the programme in the Congo in 2003, which prevented many innocent civilians being slaughtered and gave breathing space to the UN to allow it establish a permanent force in the region.

As I said in respect of the battle group concept, which is a misnomer and misleading — I will elaborate on this further in response to another question — the reality is that the developments in question are happening not only by agreement with the UN but also at its instigation. I am not aware that the Government is involved in any conspiracy to denude the UN in favour of the EU. All the missions being undertaken by the EU and some missions by NATO are being engaged in at the specific request and by sanction of the UN.

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister confirm that the troops Ireland has committed to the UN are the same as those committed to the EU Rapid Reaction Force? If 850 are committed to the UN, is it the case that they will not be available to the Rapid Reaction Force, and vice versa?

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Yes.