Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Force commanders have a certain amount of control over our troops on the ground but a senior liaison officer from the Irish Defence Forces is always on the ground, and if a force commander is trying to bring us into something in which we should not be involved, the senior liaison has a route straight back to the Minister's office and it can be stopped at that point. I am not, therefore, sure that people understand the limited control a force commander has. He or she does not have absolute control over all our troops.