Ireland to increase number of tasks carried out with Nato partnership

Ireland is going to widen the number of tasks in which it participates in the Nato-led Partnership for Peace from 15 to 22.

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved seven new areas in which Ireland will participate in Partnership for Peace programmes between 2024 and 2028.

The new tasks will include operations in intelligence, cyber security and air evacuations.

The proposal was brought to Cabinet on Wednesday by the Tánaiste, and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Micheál Martin. He told colleagues that Ireland would particularly focus on cyber security.

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At present, Defence Forces personnel participate in 25 tasks spanning maritime, air and general capabilities. They take part in programmes that improve interoperability and have also fully participated in joint peace operations.

In terms of air evacuation, the Defence Forces now have two Casa CE95 aircraft that have airlift capabilities to allow for medical evacuation.

Ireland’s participation in Partnership for Peace has become a point of contention politically in the past year following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some Opposition parties and anti-war groups have asserted that the Government is diluting Ireland’s traditional policy of military neutrality.

Ireland joined the Partnership for Peace framework in 1999 and insists it operates within that framework on the basis of its military neutrality.

The Government also approved a process to select three new Irish judges for the European Court of Human Rights when the current members of the Court complete their nine-year term at the end of 2023. The current members include the President of the Court, Síofra O’Leary, who finishes her nine-year term at the end of the year.

The process of selection will be made of an expert group comprising the Attorney General, a retired judge from the superior courts, and a senior academic.

The Cabinet also heard that Ireland’s outstanding debt to the European Union and the European Central Bank now stands at about €40 billion. The ECB and EU along with the IMF were called in to supervise Ireland’s economy after the financial crash of 2009.

A Government spokesman said the IMF and other debtors have been fully paid off. He said that the Commission and ECB will conduct biannual checks each year until 75 per cent of the finance has been repaid. That is expected to happen in 2031.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee also received approval for the text of the Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence Agency Bill and its presentation to the Dáil.

The main responsibilities of the new agency include planning and co-ordinating refuge accommodation and providing financial and other assistance to domestic, sexual and gender- based violence services.

The Bill also sets out the terms under which the Agency may provide funding to relevant service providers and their accountability obligations.