O'Dea under fire for inaction on EU peacekeeping

The Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea, has come under fire for his inaction over Irish involvement in EU peacekeeping.

The EU Battles Group will consist of deployable units for international intervention and tasks.

Six or seven such groups are expected to be ready for operation by 2007, although the first units may be deployable before that date.

Fine Gael's Defence Spokesperson, Billy Timmons, said that the minister needs to act soon, as the new EU member states have already made contributions to these units.