John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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411. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of members of the Permanent Defence Forces currently serving overseas; the locations they are serving; and the mandate under which they serve. [34662/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As of 4 November 2020, Ireland is contributing 569 Defence Forces personnel to 10 different missions throughout the world and also to a range of international organisations and National representations.

The conditions under which the Defence Forces may participate on overseas peace support operations are set out in the Defence Acts. Where the Defence Forces contingent comprises part of an International United Nations Force, the conditions, known as the “triple lock”, must be satisfied, that is the operation must be authorised/mandated by the United Nations; it must be approved by the Government; and it must be approved by way of a resolution of Dáil Éireann, where the size of a Defence Forces contribution is more than twelve personnel. No Dáil Éireann approval is required where members of the Defence Forces are deployed in a training role, which is consistent with the provisions of Section 3(1)(b) and 3 (1)(d) of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 2006.

The main overseas missions in which the Defence Forces personnel are currently deployed are the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with 340 personnel and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in Syria with 137 personnel.

Ireland has a long and continuous record of contributing to peacekeeping missions. Participation in these missions demonstrates Ireland's strong support for the role of the United Nations in international peacekeeping.

Full details of all personnel currently serving in missions overseas are listed in the tabular statement.

MEMBERS OF THE PERMANENT DEFENCE FORCE SERVING OVERSEAS AS OF 04 NOVEMBER 2020