Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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67. To ask the Minister for Defence the merits of deploying members of the Irish Defence Forces in Mali, given the history of that country. [41375/15]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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This question is obviously posed in the context of the French authorities invoking Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union, including the requirement to aid and assist in the event of an attack on another member state. There is speculation in the media that the Minister was considering allowing French troops currently located in Mali to be relieved of their duties and go elsewhere, and for their spaces to be filled by extra Irish Defence Forces personnel. I think that would not be a worthy decision to make, but I wonder what the Minister's thinking is on this.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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First, for the record of the House, I will state what Article 42.7 actually is. It is not a mutual defence clause but a mutual assistance clause. There is a big difference. The article states:

If a Member State is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. This shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain Member States.

In other words, for a country like Ireland, we have an obligation to look at how we can be of assistance, but we do not have an obligation to do anything that in any way undermines or contradicts our own policy on defence, which is one of neutrality. Therefore, this idea that we are somehow compromising neutrality is just not true, and we are not being asked to do it either by France or by anybody else. What I have said in response to the extraordinary and tragic attacks on the streets of Paris is that Ireland would do what it could within the confines of what we can do. Consistent with our own policy, laws and Constitution, we will do what we can to help.

The context in which we spoke about Mali was that if France makes a decision that it needs to redeploy some of those troops - which it may do, because they are spread across multiple peacekeeping missions right across North Africa, from the Central African Republic to Mali, Somalia and into the Middle East - to focus on national security issues, which is their decision, then the UN will have problems in terms of those peacekeeping missions that may have reduced personnel. It is in that context that Ireland may well speak to the UN about how we could offer some expertise. We have a lot of expertise and credibility in peacekeeping; we are very good at it. However, people should not try to link Irish neutrality with assistance to France, as if Ireland is involved in some kind of offensive operation.

If France feels the need to reallocate resources towards national security, which is very reasonable in the context of what has just happened there, Ireland will obviously consider assisting, from a UN perspective and from a good neighbour perspective, by potentially picking up some of that burden. That is all we are looking at. We will take our time and make our decision accordingly.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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There is a link, of course, despite the Minister's best wishes. He is correct that the article involved clearly states that whatever action is taken, it "shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy" of the individual member state.

The problem is that this Government and the previous Government have had an incredibly fluid interpretation of what it means to be a neutral country. While resources in France are spread across multiple peacekeeping operations, it is also the case that the French President has announced that it is going to engage in a pitiless war against ISIS. It is engaged currently in a bombing campaign in Syria and so on. The idea that Irish troops would relieve French troops in order for them to engage in actions elsewhere within that context would be reprehensible.

We can try to divorce our foreign policy from security issues - the Minister tried to do so in reply to the first question as well. The reality is that the best defence for our security is that we stop using Shannon Airport on a repeated basis by the US military, because it is an undoubted fact that the risk and threat to Ireland increases as a result of our assisting that aggressive war, which is so counter-productive.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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With respect, I think France is better placed to make decisions on how it protects its citizens than Deputy Daly, which is what she seems to be proposing. The country saw over 130 of its citizens mowed down or blown up on the streets of Paris. An Irish citizen, who luckily was not killed, was injured significantly.

France has a right to respond to protect itself and it will do that. What it chooses to do is not going to be influenced by Ireland one way or the other. However, if France is redeploying troops to protect its citizens at home and abroad and if that creates gaps in peacekeeping missions in different parts of the world, then Ireland could potentially be helpful to the United Nations in filling them. Of course we will look at that, because that is what Ireland does. We do peacekeeping and we do it well. We try to bring stability, protect people, train people and bring some sense of normalisation to conflict zones. We will continue to do that. That is all that is at play here.

We will come back to this House if we make a decision to do that, which we may not do. If we do we will go through the normal procedure and justify everything we do in the context of settled policy in Ireland around neutrality.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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I assure the Minister that will be strenuously resisted in this Chamber. The Minister's stance has exposed the utter hypocrisy of western authorities in respect of this matter. France is better placed and France has a right to defend its citizens - exactly contradictory remarks were made when Russia engaged in the same reprehensible actions by bombing Syria in response to attacks on Russia. The West said Russia should not be doing that because it was endangering its citizens. That was correct for Russia but it is also correct for France.

Sadly, French citizens, completely innocent people who have been slaughtered, are the victims of their Government's foreign policy. French people are closely aligned to Ireland and Irish people have close ties with them. The best aid we can give them is to advise them not to play into the hands of ISIS and to get their Government to stop funding Saudi Arabia, which funds ISIS, and to stop it engaging in actions which will give rise to ISIS activity.

Mali is a former French colony. Much of the intervention and the role of the French authorities in that region stems from their desire to keep control over the uranium, gas and oil supplies in that region. That is really what is at risk there. The idea that we would be involved in some post-colonial effort is reprehensible.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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What I think is reprehensible is that Deputy Daly seems to be suggesting that the tragedy in Paris is the fault of the French Government as opposed to madmen, who are fundamentalists and who want to destroy the way of life that cities like Paris represent. Paris is multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-colourful. No city in the world has more mixed marriages than Paris. It is a place I had the privilege to live in as a student for a period. The suggestion in this House that we should be looking at ourselves to blame for what happened on the streets of Paris is reprehensible. France has an obligation to defend itself. We all have an obligation to work together in the European Union to protect our own citizens, in Ireland, France and everywhere else.

In that context, we will make decisions in a way that is consistent with our laws and Irish neutrality, which is settled policy in Ireland and which I support. I am certainly not going to start lecturing other countries about how they should protect their citizens in the context of what has just happened.