Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the secondment of individuals and I am very aware that there are some individuals from the Irish armed forces who play very important roles internationally and in some cases have gone on to take on significant UN roles. John Ging is one such individual who has contributed very much in the international sphere. The concern, however, relates to contingents.

The Minister referred to the Reserve Defence Force. There was much discussion of the RDF on Second Stage. That is generally widely welcomed. I have not tabled amendments in that regard. The point is that the secondment does not just relate to individuals, it sometimes refers to contingents. In that case, numbers are involved. I accept that I may need to refine the amendment, but I have concerns. Perhaps the way to do it would be to look at having a different standard for a member versus a contingent of the forces, or it may be about tying it more directly to where section 3(1)(a) is being used for the delegation of operational control. The question is whether we address the delegation at the point of operational control. Perhaps instead of saying under section 3, it is under section 3, except for subsection (1)(a) where certain things apply. I do not want to stop us having individuals contributing at a high level in these organisations - I hope contributing very much from Ireland's perspective and from the perspective of principles rather than power and simply alliances.

This is a real crunch point at the moment internationally about whether we pursue the politics of principle. There is quite a lot of pressure internationally to move away from that multilateral system towards a politics of power and alliances. If we can be a force for good in that respect, that is great, but we also need to have safeguards so that we do not get pulled in a direction. In some senses, when I am trying to put safeguards into the legislation, I am also trying to make sure that Ireland has safeguards and that we are clear on why we cannot do things and what we cannot do and what is not part of what we can do. That is why I wish to add a caveat here.

I accept that I need to word the amendment differently, but I would prefer if the Minister would offer clarification on Report Stage on section 3(1)(a). Perhaps the difference is when it is a contingent versus when it is an individual. There is also a difference where there is a transfer of operational control involved. For example, we must ensure we have clarity on that. I return to the point I made, which the Minister might address, on the question of having participated in a United Nations mission versus doing so on an ongoing basis. We must also be clear on that. The OSCE and the European institutions are there, but I am concerned about any regional agreement or agency. The Minister mentioned NATO. I know we have co-operated with countries. We even have a group with whom we have co-operated on the one hand that has also engaged with NATO. This was debated when we looked at what-----