Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 292: To ask the Minister for Defence the training opportunities provided by Ireland's participation in Partnership for Peace to help further enhance and develop Ireland's Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8539/07]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland's participation in Partnership for Peace (PFP) to date is set out in our seven Individual Partnership Programmes (IPP), copies of which have been lodged in the Dáil Library. Ireland's seventh IPP, covering the period 2007-2008, was completed last year in consultation with the Department's of Foreign Affairs, Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Justice Equality and Law Reform, Health and Children, and Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

A total of sixty seven (67) activities were chosen which focus on the enhancement of current skills and expertise of the Defence Forces in such areas as operational and generic planning for peacekeeping and peace support, communications, command and control, operational procedures and logistics. This will take the form of participation at appropriate meetings, seminars, training courses, workshops, conferences, staff exercises and tabletop exercises.

In the context of PfP, Ireland has participated in a number of Crisis Management exercises and technical workshops. Our participation has been in the planning phases, at a technical level, at observer level and at staff level appointments in multinational headquarters, the main focus being to enhance interoperability and familiarity with operating procedures in a multinational environment.

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.

Participation in Partnership for Peace (PfP) activities is entirely voluntary and is based on the principle of self-differentiation, that is, a State selects for itself the nature and scope of its participation. It is Government policy to stay in the mainstream of peacekeeping. Ireland's participation in Partnership for Peace (PfP) enables our peacekeepers to remain abreast of developments in preparation for peacekeeping in areas such as training, interoperability and humanitarian aspects of peacekeeping. Participation enhances the ability of our peacekeepers to work with those of other countries and also enables us to share our own peacekeeping skills with a wide range of countries.