Written answers

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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144. To ask the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No.12 of 6 February 2014, relating to Ireland's participation in EU battle groups, his views on whether the triple lock has been substantially weakened by the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006; and that if Irish troops are committed to take part in a war it is highly unlikely that they will only be involved for 120 days. [12967/14]

Photo of Alan ShatterAlan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The statutory authority for the despatch of contingents of the Permanent Defence Force for service overseas as part of an International Force, is set out in Section 2 of the Defence (Amendment)(No. 2) Act, 1960 as amended by the Defence (Amendment) Act, 2006. is provision is commonly referred to as the “triple lock” and comprises three requirements namely:

- the authorisation of the operation by the Security Council or General Assembly of the United Nations;

- A formal Government decision; and

- the approval of Dáil Éireann.

There is no requirement for Dáil approval for the despatch of contingents of the Permanent Defence Force for service overseas as part of an International Force where that Force is unarmed or where the size of the Permanent Defence Force contingent does not exceed twelve members. Outside of such contingent deployments, members of the Permanent Defence Force may also be deployed outside the State on a range of other duties including training, humanitarian operations, fact finding missions, ceremonial duties etc under the authority of the Government in accordance with the provisions of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 2006, which formalised arrangements in this regard. e range of such duties are set out in Section 3 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006.

Deployment in the case of any Battlegroup operation will be for a period of 30 days extendable up to 120 days under the agreed EU concept under which Battlegroups operate.

Within the EU Battlegroup concept, the purpose of the Battlegroup, as a rapid response capability, includes the role of acting as an initial entry force to stabilise a situation pending the deployment of a follow-on force, to support an established peace support operation; and to respond to humanitarian crises. e Battlegroup is designed to respond to crisis management situations in support of international Peace and Security. Indeed, the United Nations strongly supports the development of the Battlegroups as a capability that could be made available by the Union in support of UN mandated missions.

As the Deputy will be aware, the EU does not have a common defence arrangement and as such there is no situation in which a Battlegroup could be committed to take part in any war, as is suggested by the Deputy. Moreover, in relation to Ireland’s participation in EU Battlegroups, the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 has not in any way impacted on the triple lock mechanism. Any deployment of Defence Forces personnel to an overseas operation as part of a Battlegroup would be subject to the “Triple Lock” – UN Mandate, Government and Dáil Eireann approval in accordance with the Defence Acts 1954 – 2011.

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