Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 117: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on whether Ireland's proposed participation in the EU battle groups will require Ireland's triple lock requirement to be compromised; the way in which the requirement for rapid deployment of battle groups can be reconciled with Ireland's need for a UN mandate before Irish troops are sent abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13095/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As the Taoiseach, the Minister for Defence and I have stated on many occasions, the Government remains committed to the triple lock requirements of UN authorisation, Government decision and Dáil approval before the deployment of Irish troops abroad. Any participation in peace support operations, whether carried out directly by the UN or, for example, as part of an EU-led mission with UN authorisation, is for sovereign national decision. This would apply to operations carried out as part of an EU battle group in the same way as it does to any other peace support operation.

The importance of battle groups as a valuable contribution to the efforts of the United Nations in crisis management has been emphasised by UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, and has been endorsed in the outcome document of the world summit last September. EU battle groups have a key role to play in support of UN peacekeeping, specifically by having the ability to deploy very rapidly to crisis situations. The fact that EU battle groups would be expected to be on the ground in a short period is in no way incompatible with authorisation from the UN Security Council. The Security Council, as part of its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, has often shown the ability to act very quickly when required.

Ireland is not alone in the European Union in looking for UN authorisation before deploying its defence forces on peace support operations overseas. Many member states acknowledge that they would normally have a de facto political requirement for the legitimacy which a resolution of the UN Security Council conveys on peace support operations, particularly robust Chapter VII-type missions for which battle groups are particularly relevant. All member states need to complete their respective national decision-making procedures before deploying troops overseas, most of which would include parliamentary approval processes. The decision by any member state to participate in an EU battle group, or indeed in the European security and defence policy as a whole, does not imply automatic participation by that member state in a specific peace support operation. This is a fundamental principle of the European security and defence policy.

It is possible that there may be cases in which the Government and this House might wish Ireland to participate in a peacekeeping mission, whether as part of an EU battle group or otherwise, but where no UN authorisation was forthcoming, including as a result of a permanent member of the UN Security Council exercising its veto. In such a scenario, Irish troops would be unable to participate in that mission. This is a fundamental element of the triple lock and one to which this Government remains committed. We have consistently made this clear to EU partners, including to Sweden, with whom we are discussing possible participation in the Nordic battle group. The potential for countries which are contributing to battle groups being unable to deploy for various reasons is well recognised within the EU and it is expected that battle groups will need a level of built in redundancy to cover such scenarios.