Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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247. To ask the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 101 of 27 November 2014 if the limit of 175 Irish soldiers being allocated to the nordic battle group, includes the necessary back up troops, to replace those killed, injured, or involved in back support, in the event of the nordic battle group going to war or if more can be called up in this case. [47243/14]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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248. To ask the Minister for Defence if plans have been made for the nordic battle group to function without a reconnaissance company, which the Irish troops make up, in the case of the nordic battle group going to war and the Government or Dáil Éireann refusing to mandate Irish troops to serve on the operation. [47244/14]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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249. To ask the Minister for Defence if the nordic battle group is supposed to take part in operations for a maximum of 120 days; and the situation if the operation is not over or completed in 120 days. [47245/14]

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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250. To ask the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 101 of 27 November 2014, if he will provide the exact number of MOWAGs armoured personnel carriers and reconnaissance vehicles, and light tactical armoured vehicles that have been allocated for use with the nordic battle group; the amount this equipment is worth; and if Ireland will be compensated should they be destroyed or damaged during an operation or training of the nordic battle group. [47246/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 247 to 250, inclusive, together.

Both myself and many of my predecessors have explained the purpose of EU Battlegroups and the role of Battlegroups in numerous parliamentary questions and in debates in this House and in discussions in Committee. The purpose of the EU Battlegroup is to provide a rapid response capacity for crisis management and peacekeeping operations. The development of EU Battlegroups has, in addition, been welcomed by the United Nations and the UN Secretary General as an important potential support to UN peacekeeping, particularly where UN operations run into difficulty and require rapid reinforcement. They can also be deployed as an initial entry force for follow on missions which will allow the UN or the EU to generate a force for crisis management and peacekeeping. Any deployment of the Irish contingent of the Nordic Battlegroup will require a United Nations Security Council Resolution, a Government decision and the agreement of Dáil Éireann in accordance with the provisions of the Defence Acts, known as the triple lock.

The number of Irish Defence Forces personnel participating in any deployment of the Nordic Battlegroup, which will be on standby during the first six months of 2015, will be approximately 175.

The Irish element of the Battlegroup is a Reconnaissance Task Force and as such is integral to the operation of the Battlegroup. However, as mentioned above, should a deployment take place it will be subject to the triple lock. Should it be the case that Ireland does not participate in the deployment of the Battlegroup the responsibility of making the Battlegroup available to the EU will lie with the other Troop contributing Nations and primarily with the Framework Nation, in this case Sweden.

The Battlegroup concept, as devised, allows for a deployment of up to a maximum of 120 days. It is anticipated that should any deployment last longer than this the European Union would generate a follow-on force to take the place of any Battlegroup that would be deployed.

In relation to the exact numbers of vehicles being deployed this is a security issue. However I can assure the Deputy that the contingent will have all the requisite equipment necessary to provide force protection to minimum risk. In relation to costs and compensation, the operation of the Battlegroup is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding between all the participating states. The Memorandum states that “each Participant will bear its own costs resulting from Battlegroup activities”. As such it is not envisaged that compensation would be paid for damage, destruction or loss of equipment.