I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. We are all very conscious of the very complex and changing environment in Lebanon on a daily basis, and even today when there were supposed to be ceasefires we see continuous fire and conflict taking place. I assure the House that there has been ongoing and substantive engagement with the United Nations and with our international partners regarding the position and future role of Irish personnel serving with UNIFIL, and particularly in light of the continuing and deeply concerning hostilities in Lebanon. I have engaged extensively, and will continue to do so, with the United Nations, with our European partners and with other key stakeholders on this matter, as well as maintaining direct bilateral contact with the Lebanese authorities and with my Lebanese counterpart who I have spoken to on a regular basis. This engagement reflects our long-standing commitment to peacekeeping, to the UNIFIL mission and to the seriousness of the current security environment. I have also spoken directly at senior levels within the UN. Most recently I have spoken with UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and I have written to him again reiterating our serious concerns regarding the safety and the security of peacekeepers in Lebanon. It is important to stress that I engage with our own Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and our own personnel on a daily and weekly basis on the current situation and to ensure that our personnel are safe. In parallel, I have worked closely with European partners contributing to UNIFIL. We have had a broader discussion with the European troop contributing counterparts where, following that discussion, we engaged directly with Under-Secretary-General Lacroix calling for strengthened protection mechanisms for UNIFIL personnel and for thorough investigations into all incidents involving peacekeepers. We acknowledge that a number of peacekeepers across different countries have been killed in their duties in recent times and it is completely unacceptable that peacekeepers would be put in this type of danger. At a bilateral level I have also engaged directly with the Lebanese foreign minister, Mr. Raggi, and during this conversation I expressed our concern regarding the ongoing hostilities. It is important to stress that while he reaffirmed his absolute thanks and his appreciation for the role of the peacekeeping troops, I reaffirmed our absolute commitment and our presence on the ground and our desire to ensure that there is a continued mandate or a continued mission in some format once the UNIFIL mission comes to an end.

Our peacekeepers have been operating in very difficult circumstances in recent months, as the Minister has outlined, with air strikes, drone strikes and ground operations in the Irish area of operation. The escalating hostilities and recent deaths of peacekeepers is extremely concerning. We need to make sure that the Irish peacekeepers are given every necessary protection.

On top of that, the local Lebanese population has a great trust in our peacekeepers and respect for them. This is down to the peacekeepers' exemplary service and our own history of suffering oppression at the hands of colonial powers. The international community cannot let the end of the UNIFIL mandate create a vacuum in south Lebanon. For the local community who lives there the presence of UNIFIL has given them reassurance. I again urge the Minister to do everything in her power to have that mandate, in whatever way, extended so that there is not a vacuum left in south Lebanon.

I will refer to an earlier question around the orderly drawdowns. We have had in the last few weeks seen the last battalion travel to Lebanon where there was a crossover with the troops who had been there previously. That will be the final round of troops, essentially, that would carry out this mission.

What we will see later this year is a much smaller number who will travel over to help to wind down the mission and make sure the equipment and technology we have over there can be brought out, as well as to make sure we support what is an orderly draw-down in order that other troops and teams are protected. In the past few months in particular, we have seen a lot of how the Irish Defence Forces, our peacekeepers, have worked closely to protect and support their French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Indonesian and many other colleagues. It is really important that as this mission comes to a conclusion, it does so in a safe and orderly way. That is absolutely at the forefront of our Defence Forces members' minds in everything they do. What is also important - and I can touch on this in my final contribution - is what we do next.

When I spoke to Kaja Kallas today, the High Representative who chairs the foreign affairs and defence Council and with whom we will be working closely during our Presidency, I confirmed that during our Presidency and at its outset, we will be steering the conversation as to what happens next. It is really important from Ireland’s perspective that we find a way to be present and to be part of some form of the mission on the ground in Lebanon to carry on the work we have been doing for decades.

Our responsibility is essentially twofold in that we have to continue to support the people of south Lebanon, who are at real risk, and we must make sure that each Irish peacekeeper returns home safely to his or her family.

I will finish by thanking all those who served in UNIFIL and particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice in support of peace in that area. They have worn the Tricolour and blue helmet with distinction, courage and honour.

I join with the Deputy in thanking all of our troops who, for the past number of decades, have contributed significantly to peace in Lebanon and to monitoring the situation and who continue to do so even in the most hostile of environments. I met many of those members who travelled out in the past few weeks with their families. For many of them this is their second, third, fourth or fifth mission. This is something we know our troops are absolutely committed to, for which they are held in high regard, not just by the Lebanese armed forces and Government but by the people on the ground. I have no doubt but that had our troops and other troops not been present in recent months, the situation could have been much worse for them, which is hard to imagine in what is already a very difficult situation.

We wish to reassure our colleagues in our discussions in the months ahead and I have already met our French, Italian, Spanish and Polish colleagues to discuss how we can ensure there is a continued presence on the ground but without the UN-mandated mission. We are talking about something much smaller that does not provide the same level of support or numbers of troops, which is a real regret for all of us. We will do everything we can to ensure there is still that presence on the ground.