Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

On Ukraine, if I can put the question clearly and in context for the Minister of State because Deputy Martin's mischaracterisation of our position is not helpful in clarifying the views on this. It is extraordinary that when Deputy Clare Daly clearly indicated her outright opposition to Russian activities in Crimea and Ukraine, as I have done, Deputy Martin mischaracterises our position as being somehow supportive of Russia. So that we are absolutely clear, what Russia has done is wrong. It is imperial manipulation for Russia's own strategic self-interest. The question arises, is Europe engaged in the same activity? The Minister of State says it is not. Does he accept, for example, that the expansion of NATO, the military alliance closely linked to the European Union, will represent a threat to Russia and produce a reaction? One would have to be a fool not to recognise that the Russians would perceive that, or the expansion of the European Union at the expense of Russian spheres of influence, as a threat. The Minister of State should not get me wrong. Russia does not deserve those spheres of influence, but neither have I any great sympathy for European spheres of influence. My point is that this big-power bloc politics is dangerous because it sets populations against one another.

The second point is related to the points I made earlier. If we had a social agenda rather than a NATO agenda and a corporate agenda, we might precisely be able to undermine the conditions where populations get set against one another, because underlying conflicts between peoples are nearly always issues, such as economic deprivation and unemployment, being channelled in dangerous directions. What we or anybody who has a progressive agenda must do is put the social agenda first in a way that undermines the conditions for war. Is it not the case that Europe is going in the opposite direction because of its focus on multinationals at the expense of morality, fairness, equality and the social agenda?

Lastly, is our relationship to Israel proof positive of this? I cannot understand, and ask the Minister of State to justify, how Europe imposed sanctions on Russia - not on those in Crimea or doing business in Crimea - for what it was doing in Crimea, but when it comes to Israel we do not impose sanctions on Israel for what it is doing in the occupied territories. We make a distinction, stating that while Israel cannot behave as it does in the occupied territories we will do nothing about it, but we will do business with Israel as if nothing is going on and, in fact, we will give favoured trade status to Israel. How can the Minister of State explain that contradiction?

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