Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea has said that an incident along the border between Chad and Sudan, which has resulted in one French soldier being reported missing, will have no impact on the Irish mission to Chad.
50 elite Irish Army Rangers have been operating in Chad for the past fortnight and 400 more members of the Defence Forces are being sent there in the next few weeks.
In last night's incident, a number of French soldiers accidentally crossed the border from Chad into Sudan where their landrover was attacked.
One soldier was later found lightly wounded in the jeep and one is still missing.
This evening, after arriving in Bosnia to visit Irish peacekeepers in Sarajevo, Mr O'Dea said the Chadian incident took place 200km from where the main body of Irish troops will be stationed.
He said the security situation remains the same and the incident will have no implications for the Irish involvement in Chad and there no need for the families of peacekeepers to be worried.
Mr O'Dea said he is in Sarajevo to check the morale of Irish troops in Bosnia and to see how policing reforms are proceeding.
He said the recent declaration of independence by Kosovo has heightened tensions in Bosnia. The Minister said some Serbian ethnic minorities are threatening to seek independence and he is anxious to know what impact that is having.
The country was the scene of ethnic cleansing more than a decade ago, when more than 100,000 people lost their lives.
Members of the Defence Forces have been on peacekeeping duties in the Balkans since 1997. Nearly 300 of them are currently on duty in Kosovo.
But 44 members of the Defence Forces are still serving in Bosnia.
