Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 12: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will report on the request from UN to provide peacekeeping forces in southern Sudan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12390/05]

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 21: To ask the Minister for Defence the assistance that will be given to the United Nations in its peacekeeping efforts in Sudan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12331/05]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for Defence the conditions under which he would propose to deploy Irish troops to the Darfur region of Sudan. [12393/05]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 23: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will report on the plans to deploy Irish troops to southern Sudan as part of a UN-led peacekeeping mission. [12392/05]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 21 to 23, inclusive, together.

I have dealt with the question of the possible deployment of Irish personnel to the United Nations mission in the Sudan, UNMIS, in reply to Priority Questions on this matter earlier today.

The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, UNDPKO, has invited Ireland to contribute a small number of Defence Forces personnel to act as UN military observers, UNMOs, with the recently established United Nations mission in the Sudan. The request to participate in the peacekeeping operation in Sudan is being given careful consideration, as are all such requests from the UN.

The mission is to support the comprehensive peace agreement for southern Sudan signed by the Government of Sudan and the SPLM-A, Sudan People's Liberation Movement-Army, in Nairobi on 9 January 2005.

Ireland has been strongly supportive of the peace process in Sudan generally and also in the troubled region of Darfur, providing financial support to the African Union mission, AMIS, there as well as seconding an army officer to it.

Ireland has also contributed considerable aid support to Sudan. Last week, Ireland announced that it will provide €15 million for the recovery and reconstruction of Sudan for the period 2005 to 2007.

Assessment of this request also needs to take into account the numbers of Permanent Defence Force personnel available for overseas service at present. We currently have 750 troops serving abroad out of a total of 850 maintained on UNSAS, UN standby arrangements system. This number can fluctuate; it was approximately 770 some months ago.

Members of the Permanent Defence Force are currently serving overseas in eight UN missions: in Liberia — the current total is 416 — in Côte d'Ivoire, Western Sahara, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cyprus, Lebanon and the Middle East, as well as in multinational forces authorised by the Security Council, in Kosovo — there are 207, in Bosnia and Herzegovina — there are 54, and in Afghanistan.