Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have the most serious doubts about this legislation notwithstanding the work by the three gentlemen and in the Department. I fundamentally disagree with Sinn Féin's view on it. I deplore that there has been no pre-legislative scrutiny, which at the very least would have teased out some of the issues here; I hope the committee will do that.

In her speech, the Minister of State talked about context. I would like to give some fuller context. Ireland is a neutral country and we should have a voice commenting on the context of what we are doing here today. Some 108.4 million people are now displaced, which means 1.2% of the global population have been forced to leave their homes. Among that number are 32.5 million refugees and some 76% of them come from just six countries. Within that we have done very little.

I will fill out that context and again I appeal to the Minister of State as a woman and a female politician; we give a different perspective or, mar a deirtear i nGaeilge, súil eile. Tá dualgas orainn mar mhná, mar Theachtaí agus, go háirithe, mar Theachtaí Neamhspleácha súil eile a thabhairt nuair atá Bille mar seo faoi chaibidil againn agus muid ag dul i dtreo amháin chun cabhair a thabhairt do mhuintir na hÚcráine. Níl fadhb ar bith agam leis sin. Tá gá tacaíochta daonna a thabhairt do mhuintir na hÚcráine ach, nuair a deirim é sin, cad mar gheall ar na tíortha eile? Cad mar gheall ar an gcomhthéacs?

To bring it into even more perspective, on 30 September the rescue group Sea-Watch International condemned the European Union migration polity. It recorded a video on board the Sea-Watch twin engine Seabird, showing the Libyan coast guard ramming a boat full of people seeking safety. It commented, "What we saw yesterday is the brutal and daily disgusting migration policy of the European Union." I agree with that comment. Shortly before the boat was hit a large patrol boat was seen throwing lifejackets into the water. All of this has been confirmed. In 2015 we did a deal with Libya, giving it financial support and one of its ships is ramming a boat in the Mediterranean.

Tá ár mbuíochas tuillte ag an iriseoir Sally Hayden. Tá obair na gcapall déanta aici ó thaobh na n-ábhar seo agus í ag cur síos ar an líon daoine atá caillte sa Mheánmhuir. On 3 October, Sally Hayden wrote, "Mourners gathered in Lampedusa on Tuesday to mark the 10th anniversary of a devastating shipwreck, when at least 368 people died off the coast of Italy, leading to outcry [and rightly so] ... Eight days after the first disaster, at least 268 more people drowned in a second incident."

She points out that since 2014, these figures have been confirmed by various organisations on the ground, the figure comes to 28,100 people.I will repeat that even though I hate repetition, 28,100 people have died or gone missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. This year is shaping up to be the deadliest in the Mediterranean Sea since 2017 when there were 2,357 deaths or disappearances, including children. Year after year, people who are desperately trying to have a better life, leave places where they are starving, suffering from climate change or its consequences, war and conflict, as outlined by Deputy Naughten, most of it perpetuated by the powers that be such as America, Europe, England and France. In light of this, in June this year more than 600 people are thought to have drowned in a single disaster. That is 600 people just gone in a single disaster off Pylos in Greece. I am on record as saying I do not think I can ever swim in the Mediterranean again, as a woman, a mother and a Deputy who has stood by and watched this happen in our name, a neutral country. I could not but agree with Sally Hayden and with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees who has stated:

Rarely does a week pass without stories from across the globe of tragedies and dramatic incidents, whether at sea or on land routes. They have become appallingly normalized.

That is from a joint statement from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The statement continues:

These tragedies are preventable and the need to provide a meaningful response cannot be put off any longer. Saving lives is not an option. It is a legal obligation. It is a moral imperative.

That is why the Minister of State is bringing in legislation to save lives in the Ukraine. I understand that. However, when it is put into context, that context needs to be looked at as there are 104 million displaced people because of the wars and many other reasons, which are perpetuated or are the consequences of the policies of governments.

Europe has gone on a route of building a fortress Europe. I remember the recent comments of Josep Borrell that the Europe Union is a garden and outside is a jungle. Building walls, he said, is not great because the jungle will go over the walls. He stood over those comments.

I will come to the legislation but it is important to give context, as the Minister of State did in relation to the war in Ukraine. We spoke recently about the EU military assistance mission, EUMAM, to Ukraine. I got lost in the amount of money that we have now given as a neutral country, for military purposes. The initial target was to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers. That was exceeded by April 2023 and it expanded to 30,000 soldiers. As of the end of August 2023, more than 25,000 soldiers have been trained. Mr. Borrell comes to mind again with the new target to train 40,000 by the end of this year. It goes on to look at the common cost of €106.7 million for two years. That is now going to be extended. Ireland expects to pay €2.45 million from the Defence Vote to EUMAM Ukraine over the next 24 years and so on. I despair at reading these figures. We have twisted language to make it nonsensical. We talk about a European Peace Facility which is anything but. If you ask me, it is a warmongering facility. As of August 2023, the total EU contribution for the Ukraine alone was €5.6 billion. When the European Peace Facility was set up for the period 2021 to 2027, the budget was €5 billion. We have far exceeded it. Josep Borrell, that wonderful man, full of vision for a peaceful society, in July 2023 made a proposal to provide €5 billion to Ukraine per year for the next four years. That is €20 billion under a European Peace Facility.

Then there is the factsheet from Europe, which I will not go into. The amount of money going into Ukraine for military purposes is astounding. The war in Ukraine is unacceptable. What Russia has done is illegal and wrong. Our role should be to absolutely call for a peaceful settlement to that war, not joining the warmongers. If we have learned anything in Ireland from our history of conflict we have learned that we have to sit down at some stage. In that context here today now we are looking at a Finance (State Guarantees, International Financial Institution Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023. There is no pre-legislative scrutiny. There are seven parts and 22 sections. I look at that with my non-financial mind and I read it and then I read it a second time and I see that we are going to make contributions of money to three institutions, or possibly more, but three are listed. We are going to guarantee it. We are going to enter into agreements with the Commission in relation to the agreements and the guarantee. It goes something like this, in my straightforward mind: money will be borrowed on the markets; the three institutions will hold the money; we will make contributions to that as well; loans will be given to the people in Ukraine for reconstruction purposes, presumably, we do not know that either. There is a deal done on the interest. Ireland as a state with other European states will pay the interest on that because it is really important that institutions make profit when we borrow money. That is absolutely vital in the market state. Then we give a guarantee that if Ukraine is not in a position to pay back the money, we give a guarantee. That is my straightforward understanding of this. Something in me says “Mother of Jesus, what are we doing here? What is the risk assessment at its most basic? Nobody, including the Minister of State, has told me what the risk assessment is in relation to what we are signing up to in this matter and the money that we are going to guarantee. I have read, and as always I thank those responsible for the digest for their clear, or as clear as they could do, outline of what this legislation is about, as well as the briefing note we received. I see the figures mentioned and I see that we are capped for the 2022 MFA package, where Ireland's maximum liability is capped in the schedule to the guarantee at €76.9 million. For 2023, we are told there is now a new way of looking at this. It is designed differently and is focused on interest subsidies rather than a member state guarantee. The maximum contribution over the cycle, so we are not talking about 2021, 2022, 2023, We are talking about 2021 up to 2027. That is capped at €63.625 million. In all of this I see us gearing up for a long war. I see us gearing up in anticipation that this war is not going to stop. We have left the human beings out of this completely and we are talking in terms of figures and profits for the institutions.

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