Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

210. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will provide clarification on the Government's position regarding the ability of the UN General Assembly to give approval for more than 12 Irish troops to be deployed on overseas missions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16921/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I wish to advise the Deputy that, under the UN Charter, the UN Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security and in practice, peacekeeping missions are only ever deployed on the basis of mandates from 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).

The term ‘recommendation’ is key however. While the General Assembly can make recommendations to Member States, it cannot compel action. The only time the General Assembly invoked a Resolution (the Uniting for Peace) to recommend a peacekeeping operation was nearly 70 years ago, in 1956, when it established the first UN Emergency Force in the Middle East. Even then, it was a peacekeeping, not a peace enforcement operation as envisaged in Article 42 of the UN Charter and was carried out with the consent and cooperation of the parties involved.

Ultimately, while the UN General Assembly can make recommendations to Member States, under the UN Charter the Council alone has the power to take decisions which Member States are obliged to implement.

In practice therefore, UN peace keeping operations are only ever deployed on the basis of mandates from the United Nations Security Council, and heretofore any deployment of any number of Defence Force personnel on peace keeping missions overseas has taken place on that basis. I must highlight that the number 12 as part of the Triple Lock mechanism only applies to the requirement for a Dáil Resolution.