Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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63. To ask the Minister for Defence the details of his recent discussions with his European Union counterparts in relation to the possibility of increased numbers of Irish troops being sent to Mali. [2797/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Defence constantly reviews the deployment of Defence Forces personnel overseas. With regard to any future deployments of Defence Forces personnel overseas, Ireland receives requests, from time to time, in relation to participation in various missions and these are considered on a case-by-case basis.

As the Deputy is aware, I recently attended the meeting of Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers, which took place in Brussels on 17th November 2015 at which my French colleague, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drein, invoked Article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union, following the tragic events in Paris on 13 November.

Following that invocation there has been ongoing liaison between officials from my Department and French authorities at which various options for how Ireland could be of assistance are being explored. One option being explored is examining what support Ireland may be able to offer to missions which suffer gaps as a result of France or other nations withdrawing forces to undertake alternative operations. This includes the possibility for the potential enhancement of our current deployment to the EU Training Mission in Mali to which 10 members of the Permanent Defence Force are deployed.

The purpose of any deployment of additional Defence Forces personnel would be to ensure the continued effectiveness of UN mandated missions. To inform my consideration of this issue, the military authorities recently visited both the UN mission (MINUSMA) and EUTM Mali. I plan to bring forward proposals to Government for approval to allow for the deployment of some additional trainers and mission support staff in the EU Training mission in Mali. The issue of providing support to the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA will be kept under review.