Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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269. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence to clarify that a UN General Assembly resolution may authorise the deployment of Irish troops overseas under the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006; that such authorisation would not be subject to a UN Security Council veto or require changes to the triple lock; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17135/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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To answer the Deputy's question, the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 primarily concerned the authorisation of the despatch of contingents or members of the Permanent Defence Force for service outside the state, under a range of duties including as part of an International United Nations Force, as sanctioned by a resolution of the Security Council or the General Assembly of the United Nations.

However, I would like to advise the Deputy that, in practice, the UN General Assembly cannot compel a peacekeeping operation. That remains the province of the UN Security Council.

In certain instances, where a matter has been considered by the Security Council and has been the subject of a veto, the General Assembly may consider the matter and make a recommendation to UN Members for collective action (under the Uniting for Peace Resolution). However, it cannot compel action.

Only once in history has the UN General Assembly invoked the Uniting for Peace Resolution and recommended a peacekeeping operation. This happened nearly 70 years ago, when it established the first UN Emergency Force in the Middle East in 1956.

Ultimately, while other organs of the UN make recommendations to Member States, under the UN Charter, the Security Council alone has the power to take decisions which Member States are obligated to implement. In practice therefore, UN peacekeeping operations are only ever deployed on the basis of mandates from the United Nations Security Council, and in practice overseas deployments to peace keeping operations involving the Defence Forces has only ever taken place on the basis of a Security Council mandate.

A new process is clearly needed, therefore, to replace the current system underpinning the deployment of Irish troops abroad, which effectively allows UN Security Council members to bind Ireland’s hands in its international engagement by a veto or threat of the use of a veto, and in a situation where no new peace keeping operation has been agreed since 2014.

A Draft General Scheme of a Bill to amend legislation was approved by Government on 4th March last.