Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)

I welcome home our peacekeepers. Members of the 126th Infantry Battalion returned following a six-month deployment with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL. They were greeted, in emotional scenes, at the airport. It is wonderful to be able to say all our troops returned home safe and sound after a traumatic time for the past six months.

As everybody knows, UNIFIL is to wind down at the end of 2026. The Lebanon area has had a huge connection with Irish troops over the past 40 years. I hope that when the wind-down happens, the people of Lebanon will not be left to their own defences. Everybody knows what has happened there over the past six months. Grenades have been launched at, and attacks have occurred very close to, peacekeeping centres.

It is feared that we are leaving Lebanon at a time when we should be staying. There is a fear among those who have built up connections with families, friends, villages and communities in Lebanon that we are leaving them with worst times to come.

I welcome home our troops for Christmas. It is very important that we stay connected through peacekeeping missions throughout the world. If the missions send out a message, it is that we are a nation of peace and we deploy our troops in areas where they are needed.