Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for Defence his views on whether contingents of the Defence Forces should undertake joint training missions with other EU member state forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12328/05]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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When the Defence Forces are deploying a contingent on an overseas mission and where contingent personnel are drawn from different brigades, they are trained together for a period, in order to improve cohesiveness and understanding among the personnel comprising the contingent. Similarly, from an objective standpoint, it will be important, in order to reach the requisite level of interoperability within the short timeframes envisaged for the deployment of the EU's rapid reaction elements, that the various forces and elements comprising a battle group are familiar with the equipment, standard operating procedures, organisation and operations of the group as a whole.

The development of this essential understanding and interoperability is one of the factors involved in Ireland's individual partnership programme, IPP, under Partnership for Peace, PfP. Ireland also participates in the PfP planning and review process, known as PARP. In common with the other EU neutrals, Ireland is using the PARP process in connection with planning for humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping and crisis management collectively known as the Petersberg Tasks. The scope of our involvement in PARP is focused on enhancing interoperability and familiarity with operating procedures in a multinational environment.

It is Government policy to stay in the mainstream of peacekeeping. Ireland's participation in PfP enables our peacekeepers to remain abreast of developments in preparation for peacekeeping in areas such as training, humanitarian aspects of peacekeeping and interoperability and enhances the ability of our peacekeepers to work with those of other countries. It also enables us to share our own peacekeeping skills with a wide range of countries. We want to ensure that our Defence Forces have a full voice in preparations for peacekeeping missions and we do not want to see Ireland absent when matters in which we have a legitimate interest are being discussed.

Defence Forces personnel have participated in a number of staff, technical and crisis management exercises in the context of both the EU and PfP. In accordance with stated policy, the Defence Forces do not participate in multinational military field exercises. However, from an optimum readiness perspective, this may need to change if we wish to participate fully and effectively in EU battle groups-rapid response elements. The question of joint training missions with the forces of other member states is among the issues being reviewed by the interdepartmental group I have established to examine full implications of Ireland's potential participation in EU rapid reaction elements.