The UN Security Council.

Not true.

Again, the Deputy is talking without having seen our legislation. Our legislation can be placed within the UN framework but the Deputy has jumped to conclusions again.

There has not been a peacekeeping mission since 2014.

Yes.

That is what we are proposing-----

No, it is not.

It did not cover it in-----

You cannot be dishonest and say that.

He has been interrupting me all my life.

We tend to provoke each other.

A Cheann Comhairle, ar maidin rinne an Rialtas cinneadh foirmiúil aitheantas a bhronnadh ar Stát na Palaistíne. Is cinneadh stairiúil agus tábhachtach é seo agus is ar son cás na síochána a rinneamar an cinneadh. Is ceart agus is cóir é a dhéanamh. This morning, Ireland formally recognised the State of Palestine. It is an occasion of deep significance, not only to Deputies in this House but to the people of Ireland and the people of Palestine. Much thought, analysis and diplomatic effort has informed the timing and…

Under the UN Charter, the UN Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Extremely regrettably however, no new peacekeeping mission has been approved by the council since 2014. The five permanent members of the council can use their veto power to prevent the Security Council from taking decisions, including those related to the mandates of peacekeeping operations. It could be argued that even the threat of the veto has impacted on new peacekeeping operations …

I am unclear as to what the Deputy means about the Oireachtas committee. Is he saying that members are speaking more outside of the committee as opposed to speaking in it? I thought the debate in the committee during the week was reasonably constructive. There was no outcry, as such, within the committee anyway, but there was a conversation and people had different perspectives. What we are doing here is very simple. I put it back to the Deputy in the sense of asking him if he thinks the House believes that Russia …

We should take the opportunity to congratulate the Chief of Staff, Seán Clancy, on being elected by his peers as chair of the European Union military committee, which involves a role in co-ordination and consultation across EU militaries in respect of peace enforcement, peacekeeping and conflict prevention. That reflects well on the Defence Forces and needs to be said. When the Deputy referenced "game playing", Russia and China are not game playing. Unfortunately, the world is changing. We are strongly committed to…

Ireland’s active engagement in EU battle groups demonstrates our commitment to the development of EU capabilities in the area of crisis management and contributes to our overall credibility within the Union. It enhances our capacity to influence the ongoing development and evolution of the rapid response capacity of the EU, in particular, the role battle groups can play in reinforcing and acting as a strategic reserve for UN operations. It also supports the development of rapid deployment skills and capabilities wi…

This is the first time ever that there has been a change in terms of allowances and supports for participation in an EU battle group. As I said, in the previous ones there were no allowances as such and this represents progress. The nature of the participation in the battle group is somewhat significantly different from that, say, in a UNIFIL mission or other mission abroad. There is a claim before the conciliation council under the conciliation and arbitration scheme and that claim will be considered in that space…

I was pleased to attend the PDFORRA conference yesterday in Cavan. We had a good exchange and a good discussion. They acknowledged a lot of progress in the past 15 months and I appreciate the Deputy has as well in respect of a range of issues, not only pay and allowances but the progress we have made on the working time directive, the retirement age, etc. We have made further progress here. I hear what the Deputy has to say on the anomaly in respect of captains. The Deputy calls it an "archaic regulation". I will e…

The establishment of the Naval Service is 1,094 personnel and the strength, as at 31 March 2024, was 722 personnel. The military authorities have advised that the strength of the Naval Service stood at 936 personnel in 2019, 902 in 2020, 875 in 2021, 798 in 2022, and 725 in 2023. The report of the Commission on the Defence Forces approved a move, over a six-year period, to a level of Permanent Defence Force capability equivalent to LOA 2, requiring an additional 2,000 personnel, civil and military, beyond the 9,500…

The Deputy made a number of points. There is no lack of capital investment in our navy either in Haulbowline, which has undergone significant infrastructural investment and will have more, or for the purchase of ships and so on. In respect of enhanced patrolling of the Irish Sea and surveillance, monitoring subsea cables in our exclusive economic zone is very important. We have seen what happened to Nord Stream 1 and 2 in October 2022. There is a mixture of air and naval platforms, including the Naval Service fishe…