Dáil debates

Thursday, 13 November 2014

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Overseas Missions

9:35 am

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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3. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will re-examine the effectiveness of the Irish Defence Forces in overseas missions and, to that end, limit involvement to fully-fledged UN missions, avoiding those that have been running for decades without creating peace and ending participation in EU and NATO-controlled missions. [43328/14]

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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The issue I am raising was raised by my colleague, Deputy Mick Wallace, on the last occasion on which the Minister for Defence took Question Time. It relates to the effectiveness of our overseas missions. Currently, we operate under a number of different banners and on a fairly ad hocbasis. Does the Minister intend to stand back and review the effectiveness of our overseas missions? Would it not be better to restrict ourselves to fully-fledged UN missions rather than the system of ad hocengagements we have been pursuing?

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Participation in overseas peacekeeping missions is a key element of Ireland's foreign policy and has been an important dimension in meeting our international obligations as a member of the UN and the EU. Irish foreign policy is directed at supporting co-operative arrangements for collective security through the development of international organisations, especially the United Nations, and supporting effective international action in areas such as disarmament, peacekeeping, development and human rights. This approach continues to define Irish priorities within the UN system and Ireland remains willing to play a full role in contributing to the security of Europe and the world.

The Defence Forces are currently primarily deployed on overseas missions in support of international peace and security under UN mandates. However, with the increased use of more robust chapter VII missions, the UN has turned to regional organisations such as the EU, the African Union and NATO to manage operations on its behalf and under its authority. This is one of the most significant changes in UN efforts at maintaining international peace and security. In effect, the EU and NATO, together with other similar such organisations, are now major players in UN peacekeeping.

Peacekeeping also adds to Ireland's national security by containing conflicts and reducing the threat of conflicts spreading. UN peacekeeping missions, such as UNIFIL, have made a real difference in countries such as Lebanon. The UNIFIL operation has supported political transitions and helped the region to close a chapter of conflict and open a path to normal development, even if major peace-building challenges remain.

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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The point I am making is not that we should stop participating in overseas missions but rather that we should take a step back and consider where and how we engage in such missions. The Minister referred to "effective peacekeeping" and that is precisely what I am talking about. Our current policy has been described as a type of scattergun approach which sends Irish soldiers as unarmed observers to a multitude of locations.

These are often sent in small numbers. In the context of the limited resources available to the Defence Forces and the limited impact small numbers can have, we should stand back from that. It is a worrying trend that we are getting involved with forces under EU and NATO banners. For example, the mission in Chad is more about furthering French economic interests than a serious attempt at peacekeeping. The question seeks to examine missions such as the Congo, where 5 million people have died due to conflict since 1996. This has been ignored by European states and others. A fully-fledged UN mission, with Irish troops participating, could have an effective role rather than the current scattergun approach.

9:45 am

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I understand the point the Deputy is making and we must prioritise. The Defence Forces has limited capacity in terms of peacekeeping abroad and we do not want to spread ourselves too thinly. It is important to distinguish between peacekeeping missions or other peace support missions the UN or NATO co-ordinate and the role of the UN in that. The way the UN undertakes missions in different parts of the world has changed. The UN asks collective organisations like NATO to lead missions on behalf of the UN. Ireland is not involved in any peacekeeping missions that do not have the blessing, support or mandate of the UN. We work with international partners in order to effectively do a job in partnership with, or for, the UN. The Partnership for Peace is a good example of how people work together. The missions we are on have UN support and normally Ireland goes at the request of UN in order to do that. This week, we made a decision to send Defence Forces personnel to Sierra Leone in west Africa to support efforts to combat Ebola. If we were waiting for a UN resolution, we would have real difficulties but we are doing a job in response to a call from the UN for assistance. That is how these things work.

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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We are not asking the Minister to slavishly follow any international organisation but to stand back, as Minister for Defence, and look at the effectiveness of our troops abroad. The reality is that countries like the Congo have been exploited and abused by western powers and colonialism for decades. No one is interested in them but French interests are being advanced in Chad and that gets support. There are UN missions we are involved in but we should not just accept them because they are UN missions. We must look at areas where conflicts have been running for decades, like the Middle East, which is going on since 1948 and there has been Irish involvement since 1958 in Golan Heights. There comes a time when the presence of UN peacekeepers becomes a facilitating mechanism for the continuation of conflict and does not deliver peace. That is why we must stand back and look at all of our missions to see how our troops can be more effectively deployed for the best reasons.

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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We do not accede to every request. We have a strong reputation within the UN for a country that has Defence Forces with the level of experience, expertise and skill set to do difficult post-conflict and peacekeeping operations. We do that in partnership with a number of other countries that have a reputation for doing the same. Any decision to send Defence Forces personnel abroad is not taken lightly.

We have not been in the Golan Heights since 1958. The current United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, mission in Golan Heights has only had Irish involvement for little over a year. We were asked by the UN to fulfil a particular role in that UNDOF mission and we have done so. We did so in difficult circumstances and Irish people should be proud of that. We have avoided any tragedy, injury or loss of life in that mission. My job is to make recommendations to the House and Government in terms of where we prioritise resources in different parts of the world. I take the Deputy's point on the Congo and agree it is a part of Africa that has been abandoned in many ways to tragic effect. However, Ireland cannot solve every problem and we must prioritise where we send our troops. We evaluate in a detailed way before we do that.