Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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230. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the up-to-date position regarding the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate in Lebanon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47428/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Ireland and the Defence Forces have a longstanding and proud history of engagement with UNIFIL over many years and a commitment to the people of Lebanon. I was able to see this at first hand when I visited the women and men of the Defence Forces serving with UNIFIL earlier this year.

On 28th August the UN Security Council renewed the UNIFIL mandate to 31 December 2026, this will be followed by a period of drawdown and withdrawal which will begin after that and is to be completed by the end of 2027.

Ireland remains deeply committed to the aims of the Mission – to support the stability of Lebanon and the wider region. With the mandate renewal, we now have clarity on next steps as regards the Mission. It is essential that the international community maintain its support and commitment to the Government and people of Lebanon and to seize the opportunity to make progress on further stability in southern Lebanon.

Based on our long engagement in the region, I believe that, at this moment of fragile opportunity, the support of UNIFIL over the next 15 months will be essential to ensuing the success of the efforts of the Lebanese authorities, given the complexity and scale of the challenge facing them. The international community must likewise, post UNIFIL, continue to support the Government and people of Lebanon. This is a point that I made strongly at last week's informal FAC-Defence in Copenhagen in terms of exploring future EU support under the EU's Common Security & Defence Policy.