MINISTER FOR Defence Willie O'Dea has strongly indicated that the Republic's involvement in the EU's peace enforcement mission (EUfor) in Chad will last for longer than the planned one-year deployment.
Speaking after a meeting of EU defence and foreign ministers in Brussels about Chad, Mr O'Dea said it was likely the EUfor mission would be replaced with a United Nations deployment next year.
He believed EUfor could be extended beyond one year until the UN was ready to take over, so there would be no "gap" in security on the ground for refugees.
"We wouldn't want to see a gap [ between EUfor and a UN mission]," he told The Irish Times.
"All the good work that is being done by the troops on the ground could be undone very quickly. We are hopeful that the UN mission could be put in place for a time. If it isn't then it is something the Government would have to discuss.
"The Cabinet has decided there will be troops there till March 15th next year. It will have to go back to Cabinet for any extension. But I wouldn't rule out that Irish troops would remain [ after March 15th next]."
The elite Army Ranger Wing has been in Chad since February.
Some 160 conventional Irish troops deployed last week, with a similar-sized group due to travel out on June 1st. They will be based in Goz Beida, eastern Chad, and with their EUfor international colleagues will protect refugees and internally displaced people by patrolling in the region around the Chad-Darfur border.
Mr O'Dea said while the cost of the Republic's involvement in the EUfor mission was considerable, it would not prohibit an extension.