Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 May 2026
103. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Defence if her Department has engaged with the United Nations General Assembly to bring forward the criteria for the fulfilment of the Defence Act and Triple Lock requirements; and to detail the action taken to work with international partners on this issue. [33324/26]
View answerIn March, I had a call with the United Nations Under Secretary General for Peace Operations, Mr Jean Pierre Lacroix, during which I outlined the Government’s proposals to remove the requirement for a UN Security Council mandate as part of Ireland’s domestic deployment approval process, to allow for members of the Irish Defence Forces to participate in international peacekeeping operations. I took the opportunity to emphasise that these reforms do not in any way diminish Ireland’s strong commitment to UN peacekeeping, but rather that they seek to address practical constraints on Ireland’s ability to participate in international peacekeeping operations.
Ireland’s diplomatic engagement with the United Nations, including participation in the General Assembly, engagement on UN Security Council reform and discussions with international partners on peace and security matters is led by the Department of Foreign Affairs, and officials from both Departments of which I am Minister, the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs, including through Ireland’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, have done, and continue to, engage closely with international partners and with the United Nations on the legislative amendments proposed to the Defence Acts. This engagement is intended to provide clarity on the nature of the proposed reforms and to reiterate Ireland’s strong and ongoing commitment to multilateralism, peacekeeping, and the principles of the UN Charter. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have also met on a number of occasions with senior UN officials to discuss these matters.
The Department of Defence works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs through established interdepartmental mechanisms to provide policy, legal and operational advice in relation to overseas deployments of the Defence Forces and the operation of the Triple Lock. At official level, my Department also continues to engage with international partners through participation in multilateral defence and peacekeeping fora, bilateral exchanges and cooperation with the United Nations Department of Peace Operations. This engagement focuses on issues including operational effectiveness, force protection, interoperability and best practice in peacekeeping operations.
On the question of the UN General Assembly, under the United Nations Charter, responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security rests primarily with the United Nations Security Council, in particular under Articles 24 and 25. In practice, UN peacekeeping operations are authorised on the basis of Security Council mandates, and overseas deployments of the Defence Forces have only ever taken place on that basis.
While the General Assembly may discuss matters of international peace and security and make recommendations to Member States, its resolutions are not legally binding. The General Assembly has only once invoked the “Uniting for Peace” resolution to recommend the establishment of a peacekeeping force, in 1956, when the first United Nations Emergency Force was deployed in the Middle East. Even in that exceptional case, it is important to note that the operation was conducted with the consent of the parties concerned and did not constitute a peace enforcement operation. As such, the role of the General Assembly in authorising peacekeeping missions is extremely limited, and the primacy of the Security Council remains central to the UN peacekeeping system.
