Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 58: To ask the Minister for Defence, further to his parliamentary response on 29 September 2005 in which he stated that Ireland supports the development of the European Union's rapid reaction capability in support of missions authorised by the United Nations, if that indicates that the Government would oppose at EU level the deployment of any EU rapid reaction forces in peacemaking missions not authorised by the United Nations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32041/05]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy cannot take my response to a previous parliamentary question and turn it on its head the way he has done here. As the Deputy is aware, the Government supports the development of the EU's rapid response capability in support of the UN. This is in keeping with our long tradition and policy of support for the UN, multilateralism and the Security Council as the lead authority for the maintenance of international peace and security. Among the operations on which a battlegroup could be deployed are humanitarian operations such as assisting, if requested, the authorities in a state which has been devastated by a natural or man-made disaster where there is unlikely to be a UN security resolution as it may not involve any security issues. I would consider it unlikely that Ireland would veto such an operation, although any participation by the Defence Forces would have to be examined in the context of the provisions of the Defence Acts. In general, the question of whether an EU battlegroup would deploy in the absence of UN authorisation is hypothetical at this point and the position Ireland would take in the future if such a question were to arise would be a matter for consideration by the Government.