Troops left out of war games over insurance

The planned deployment of around 140 crack troops on a major EU exercise has been called off as the Government failed to sign a special agreement to indemnify soldiers on duty abroad.

A security expert said the failure was “totally unacceptable”, as it undermines Ireland’s security co-operation with other countries.

Tom Clonan, a former army officer, said that, in light of terrorist attacks in Mali and Belgium, Ireland needs to co-operate more on intelligence-gathering.

“If we’re not at the table, others are not going to share intelligence with us,” said Dr Clonan.

The Irish troops, who have been training for nearly a year for the mission, were to form a vital component of a German-led exercise.

They are trained to provide hi-tech surveillance and intelligence-gathering, including with drones, for the German-led EU Battlegroup, which also comprises personnel from Luxembourg, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.

The Irish Istar (intelligence, surveillance, target, acquisition, and reconnaissance) troops were scheduled to take part in the exercise next month, to complete battlegroup training before officially being on standby for EU-led missions from July 1. The battlegroup consists of 1,500 troops.

However, the Germans halted Irish participation after the government failed to sign Sofa (Status of Forces Agreement), which sets down protocols and indemnities for troops visiting other EU member states and those in Nato.

The Department of Defence said it now plans to send a handful of troops (officers and NCOs) to the battlegroup’s headquarters in Strasbourg, France. A spokeswoman said: “The participation or otherwise in an exercise by any of the battlegroup nations, in the lead-up to the stand-by period, has no bearing on an exercise going ahead.”

She said the decision on proceeding with an exercise taking place in Germany was entirely a matter for the German authorities.

The department also emphasised the non-attendance of the vast majority of the Istar force would not be detrimental to the battlegroup or to the exercise.

Irish participants, meanwhile, will not be covered by the terms of Sofa.

The association representing the Defence Forces’ officers had signalled, at its conference in Naas last year, concerns about the Government’s failure to sign up to Sofa. The Representative Association for Commissioned Officers had passed a motion calling on Minister for Defence Simon Coveney to afford the standard range of protections to military personnel deployed overseas and guarantee their fair treatment by foreign host nations by signing off and ratifying Sofa.

Specific privileges and immunities, mainly in relation to civil issues, are covered under Sofa.