Irish troops should help in aid effort - officers

The organisation representing the vast majority of commissioned officers in the Irish Defence Forces has called for the Government to send troops to help the humanitarian efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami.

The Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO), which represents more than 90 per cent of senior Army officers, said today the Government does not need to wait for a United Nations mandate to send troops abroad.

Normally, Irish troops are only sent on foreign missions under the so-called triple lock, which requires a United Nations Security Council mandate, together with Government and Dáil approval, for any deployment of Irish forces.

Commandant Aidran Ryan insisted today RACO did not believe the Government was constrained by this triple lock in these circumstances. He said Ireland would be free to bypass the triple lock if it was asked directly by one of the countries affected by the tsunami disaster for help.

"What we are saying is let's not be inhibited by the UN mandate," he said. "We have a disaster here, and we don't believe the triple lock applies in these circumstances, apart from the need for a decision by the Government and the Dáil.

"If we don't move now, we're going to have a situation where people are going to be badly affected by our indecision," Cmdt Ryan said.

Defence forces have been involved in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions for 40 years, he said, and are experienced in providing medical, engineering, logistical and other supports where it is needed.

The Government has committed 850 troops to the EU Rapid Reaction Force to undertake humanitarian and crisis management tasks. However, these forces can only be deployed under a full UN mandate.

Last night, the Minister for Defence, Mr O'Dea, said that while the Government would be "very disposed to responding positively to any request for assistance" any decision would depend on this triple lock.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern, said this morning there has been no request yet from the UN for Irish troops to join the humanitarian mission.

Fine Gael called for the removal of the triple lock last year. The party's foreign affairs spokesman Mr Gay Mitchell said the system was too restrictive and imposed a "political straitjacket" Irish peacekeeping missions.

The issue is expected to be discussed at the first Cabinet meeting of the year tomorrow.