Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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130. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will provide a numerical breakdown of officers and enlisted personnel on overseas peacekeeping missions for each of the past four years; his views on whether officers are being assigned duties that were formerly carried out by enlisted personnel; the impact of such a development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11615/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Currently Ireland is contributing a total of 430 Defence Forces personnel to 11 different missions throughout the world. The details of the Defence Forces average end of month overseas strengths are as follows. In 2012 there were 122 Officers and 310 Enlisted Personnel; in 2013 there were 127 Officers and 310 Enlisted Personnel; in 2014 there were 131 Officers and 288 Enlisted Personnel; and in 2015 there were 134 Officers and 296 Enlisted Personnel.

Officers on overseas deployments are assigned to command and staff roles and duties commensurate with their rank and with the requirements of the appointment.

The ranks for appointments to overseas Mission Headquarters are designated either by UN or the Mission's Operations Commander. Situations may arise where the requirements of the Mission change. In 2014, for example, UNDOF Mission HQ stopped employing Enlisted Personnel from Troop Contributing Nations. Ireland assigned an Officer to the Mission HQ in this particular case.

I also understand that in a small number of instances Enlisted Personnel have not deployed as the overseas package available for the particular deployment was considered unsatisfactory. Given the voluntary nature of overseas appointments it is considered inappropriate by military authorities to mandate military personnel to deploy in such circumstances.