Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 48: To ask the Minister for Defence the numbers of Irish troops currently serving overseas; their locations; the numbers, in terms of Commissioned Officers, non Commissioned Officers and General Service personnel in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17267/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Ireland is currently contributing 563 Defence Forces personnel to 11 different missions throughout the world. Of this, 126 are commissioned officers, 220 are non-commissioned officers and 217 are drawn from other ranks. Full details of all personnel currently serving overseas are listed in the tabular statement which will be circulated to Deputies. The main overseas missions in which Defence Forces personnel are currently deployed are the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, with 446 personnel, the EU-led operation ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with 44 personnel, and the NATO-led international security presence, KFOR, in Kosovo with 12 personnel. Other personnel are serving as monitors and observers with the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. Staff are also deployed at the organisational headquarters of the EU, OSCE and NATO.

Also, Ireland is currently participating in the Nordic battle group, NBG, which has been on stand-by since 1 January 2011 and which will stand down on Thursday next, 30 June 2011. The other countries contributing to the Nordic battle group are Sweden, acting as framework nation, Finland, Norway and Estonia. Our contribution is a Recce/ISTAR company together with staff posts at both the operational and force headquarters amounting to approximately 150 personnel. Recce is an abbreviation of reconnaissance; ISTAR is an acronym for intelligence, surveillance, target, acquisition and reconnaissance.

As the House will be aware, personnel of the 104th infantry battalion completed their deployment to UNIFIL in the past number of days. The Irish battalion is based in sector west of UNIFIL's area of operations, centred on the major towns of Tibnin and Bint Jubyal and the Blue Line, which separates Lebanon and Israel. Personnel of the 104 battalion are being tasked primarily with patrolling, reconnaissance and occupying static posts, while operating in close co-ordination and co-operation with the Lebanese armed forces. The Defence Forces will continue to acquit themselves well and will make a vital and important contribution to the success of the mission, as they have done on so many occasions in the past.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The drawdown of the Defence Forces contingent serving with Operation ALTHEA was scheduled to occur in July 2010. This drawdown was based on an expectation that the transition of the EUFOR mission to a training and support mission would have started by that time and having regard to the budgetary situation. However, the mission is still undergoing transition to a smaller training and support mission and the process is not now expected to be completed until the end of 2011. The Defence Forces contribution will be reduced from the current level of 44 personnel to seven personnel at the end of the current rotation of the Irish contingent next month.

The drawdown of Irish personnel from KFOR in Kosovo from around 230 personnel to a residual component of 12 personnel took place between April and October 2010. Today, the Government approved continued Defence Forces participation by up to 12 personnel in KFOR and seven personnel in the UN authorised International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, ISAF, for a further period, beyond June and July 2011 respectively. Also at its meeting today, the Government approved continued participation in the EU Common Security and Defence Policy military mission to contribute to the training of Somali security forces, for a further period of one year beyond August 2011, subject to an appropriate decision of the Council of the European Union authorising the extension of the mission.

Members of the Permanent Defence Force Serving Overseas as of 27 June 2011

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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We discussed the issue of personnel deployed overseas at the committee meeting last week. I join the Minister in wishing the personnel deploying to Lebanon health and success, and I wish their families well. They follow in a very fine tradition.

Overseas service is the lifeblood of the Defence Forces in terms of the experience it gives them. Is the Minister happy that the balance serving overseas at present between general service, non-commissioned officers, NCOs, and commissioned officers reflects the overall balance of the Defence Forces? Troops are broadly expected to serve one six month tour every three years. Is that ratio still in place?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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It is at present. Like the Deputy, I wish our troops well in southern Lebanon. We discussed this issue at some length a few days ago in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. The troops are performing a very important task in a fraught part of the world. As I said at the committee, I am committed to continuing the involvement of our troops in overseas missions. I anticipate that the troops who are going to Lebanon will return in December, when another contingent will go there to be joined by the Finnish troops who are also part of this deployment.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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How many Defence Forces personnel are deployed in Afghanistan? Are any of them participating in operations such as dealing with improvised explosive devices, IEDs, or working in combat zones?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Seven members of the Defence Forces are based in Afghanistan. They are largely engaged in administrative functions but they have also been engaged in training other personnel in the neutralisation of improvised explosive devices, an area in which our Defence Forces have particular expertise. Their involvement in that area has saved lives and has been greatly valued in terms of the skill they bring to that task.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to the UN management of our forces, did the Minister see the remarks made by Colonel Gerald Aherne in "SIGNAL" magazine last week? Colonel Aherne was the chief of operations on the UN peace enforcement mission in Liberia. He spoke about UN office politics negatively affecting military missions and said that UN structures were beset by a muddled chain of command. He also said that during the most recent mission in central Africa vital "life support issues" for soldiers were unsatisfactory. Did the Minister see those remarks and what is his response to them?

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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There are a number of overseas missions. Would the Minister consider putting a motion before the Dáil annually to give authorisation to those which do not amount to 14, the figure that requires authorisation under the triple lock mechanism? Soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan, NATO headquarters and at the UN. Could an omnibus motion be put to the House annually to give authorisation to the number of soldiers serving overseas?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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On the matter raised by Deputy Ó Snodaigh, there is adequate opportunity at meetings of the defence committee to discuss the very small contingents of the Defence Forces who go abroad on various missions. There is no need for the time of the House to be taken up in circumstances where perhaps one or two members of the Defence Forces are participating in a UN organised mission abroad. The numbers are too small and there is absolute transparency in arrangements of that nature. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality is the appropriate structure within which to discuss them.

I read Colonel Ahern's article. That mission occurred prior to my appointment as Minister for Defence but there were matters referred to in respect of members of our Defence Forces which give rise to concern. I had an interest in the defence area and certain difficulties did arise in the course of that mission. I am aware from reading general materials, although not as Minister for Defence at the time, that there were suggestions of some difficulties. It is vital that there is a co-ordinated command structure for any UN mission and that there is full co-operation between the different forces located in an area. We have a particular interest in ensuring that and I will do what I can, as Minister for Defence, to ensure difficulties of the type described do not recur in any mission in which our forces are engaged.