Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As for the impact of sanctions, the Government's position has always been that Ireland supports the widest possible sanctions on Russia, and indeed on Belarus, including sanctions on energy. There is now a wide commitment to eliminate our dependence on certain energy sources, particularly oil. Sanctions in that case have been implemented really quickly. The first few rounds of sanctions were done over a few days; that normally takes months. A lot of work has been ongoing for a considerable period between the European Union and the United States in particular, working together. A lot of technical work has to go on in respect of sanctions to get the correct names of companies etc. Obviously, it all has to be legally watertight. With other EU member states, we have asked the Commission to produce an impact assessment of the effect of sanctions not only on Russia but also on us. There are questions and answers on the Commission's website, which will help companies understand their obligations. The Commission will publish further information in due course. There will be ongoing discussions on the mitigation of the effect of sanctions on EU member states to help preserve our unity because it is a fact that some countries are worse affected than others by the sanctions. Some member states have significant trading relationships with Russia. Things have changed, however. I was talking to one colleague from one country - I will not say which country - that has a significant trading relationship with Russia. Before Christmas, the country was very worried about sanctions in respect of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, SWIFT. Someone said to me that such sanctions would be the country's Brexit, such is SWIFT's impact there, if they were to go ahead. After Christmas, however, and in the run-up to the war, that attitude had changed completely because people realised there was a very important moral principle at stake and a very important reality that if serious action were not taken, this could continue. Therefore, I think there has been a change of focus in that some of these measures are viewed as simply necessary.

As for support for Ukraine's accession to the EU and measures needed to join the European Union, the most important thing we could have done in recent weeks was to send a signal of support and not a signal that could end in disappointment in Ukraine. It was therefore really important for European leaders to have made the statement they made. The Taoiseach was one of the first to voice support for EU membership for Ukraine. If there were any ifs or buts to that, I think it would have sent a really negative message into Ukraine and maybe disheartened people because that is what they are fighting for. We therefore thought it very important to state that we support absolutely Ukraine's accession. That is long-standing Irish foreign policy and European policy. The practicalities of that take a little time. It will not happen overnight. However, the Commission has now been asked in double-quick time to provide an assessment in respect of various countries, Ukraine in particular, of the applicant states' preparedness for accession. Obviously, as Deputy Richmond mentioned, there are criteria in that regard. The process takes time. In the past it has taken years. I do not think it will take that long in this case. I maintain that the most important thing is that that positive signal is sent and that people are positive about this. The people of Ukraine are part of the European family. They are one of us. They need and want to be in the European Union, and we certainly will not stand in their way. In fairness to Ukraine, over time it had already made progress before the war on aligning with EU standards, and it is defending European Union values at the moment. We will continue to support that and we will work as closely as possible but, obviously, the immediate priority is the humanitarian situation there and to try to get this war ended.

As for the European peace facility, it is not for me to answer the question of whether our position is sustainable. That is for other observers to analyse and see whether we are right or wrong. Even to have joined the European peace facility was a major step for the Irish Government. Before this happened, some people would have questioned whether we would have vetoed this. Of course, no Irish Government ever would in this context - let us be absolutely clear on that. It was a very big step for us to take. Even though we are providing non-lethal equipment to try to be true to our tradition of military neutrality and not being a part of military alliances, the help we are providing through the European peace facility is exactly pro ratawith that provided by every other country. We are also providing the defensive equipment Ukrainians need. It has been a major step and a major help and has been acknowledged as such. Whether that will change in the future is ultimately a matter for the Irish people. We will leave it with the people in due course and will continue to give the practical help we are giving at present.

As for the Russian officials, each country has taken an independent decision as to what to do in this case. The Government is advised by the Garda and the Defence Forces, and there is co-ordination and sharing of information around the European Union. That is obvious. We have taken a proportionate and appropriate decision, which has to be legally watertight under international law and the Vienna Convention.

Clearly, there were huge concerns with these particular individuals. As I understand it, no government in the EU has expelled an ambassador. It may happen in the future; I cannot predict these things. It is considered that there is value in keeping lines of communication open, however flawed those lines of communication are, let us be honest. The ambassador has not exactly given us much to go on in the past few months in making commitments that simply were not factual. We have to maintain our presence in Moscow as well. There are Irish citizens in Russia and they need help and support. We also have interests to protect. We have taken the decision. It is a difficult balance to strike. Early on, when this first became an issue, as a Government, we said we would rather do things in co-ordination with other EU member states. That is what has happened. It does have more impact. It certainly makes a bigger splash. I am glad there has not been criticism of the move to expel Russian diplomats, whereas there was in 2018, when we were accused of breaching neutrality. The country has come a bit of a way since then. It was the right decision. These are difficult balancing acts; there is nothing easy in any of this. The decision taken yesterday was balanced, proportionate and within the law.