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

I am not sure what the basis for dissent is. If people believe the diplomats should not be expelled, that is fine. They are being expelled because the evidence available to the Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Government was that they were not doing diplomatic work but were doing other work that was not compatible with the law. We had no option in those circumstances but to expel those personnel. It is the simple reason and such decisions are taken in consultation with the Garda, the Defence Forces and other European Union member states when we have such information. In truth, when that kind of information comes to the Government, there is no option but to say that these people must go. They cannot remain in the country. It is a very serious action and this involved many diplomats being expelled. They need to go.

There is no justification whatever for retaliation. Our staff in Moscow do the ordinary work of diplomats, which is reporting back to Dublin what is happening and dealing with Irish citizens who, when they contact an embassy, are often in extreme distress or difficulty for various reasons. Our staff in Moscow are doing this under very difficult circumstances and they are not doing anything incompatible with their diplomatic status. Ireland has done nothing wrong. It has never invaded any country whereas Russia has in this case. We do not have spies or anybody doing work on a non-diplomatic basis in Moscow. We all know the form of Russia in this case so we will see what happens. Our staff do tremendous work in Russia in very small numbers. The embassy in Moscow is tiny.

I wish anybody involved in peace talks well. Turkey is not a neutral country and it is a member of NATO. It has been very difficult for French President Macron to be on the phone constantly with Mr. Putin and listening to what he comes out with. He has done it in the interests of peace. He has done it on behalf of all of us as France has the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the time being. It is an important voice and such work is important.

We are actively involved in discussions at the UN Security Council. We have been extremely clear. Russia needs to leave Ukraine. It needs to take its army and soldiers and go home and tell the people the truth of what it has done. This is wrong and needs to end. That is where our strong voice has come in. To anybody who is working towards peace, we wish them well. It is very difficult to trust Russia. We only trust it in terms of what it actually does, not by what it says.

In terms of a Covid-style response, I agree. There has been an extraordinary response from the European Union, running into billions of euro so far. The European Union has been taking steps in the last few weeks that were completely unimaginable before Christmas. It has brought the EU together. That is very welcome. We have sent out a signal that we are democratic, we support democracy and we want Ukraine to be fully part of that European family.

In Poland, the Deputy said there are no tented villages. It is the depths of winter there. They are using gymnasiums and church halls. Poland does not have a supply of houses it can magic up for millions of people. When he was in Poland two weeks ago the Minister, Deputy Coveney, visited a gymnasium where people were sleeping. That is the accommodation they have there. We probably both know Gormanston better than anyone. That would be used if necessary. It is clearly not what we want to do but the numbers are very high. The numbers we have taken in so far are nothing really, compared with other countries. It is part of a wider response.

It is also very important to remember that this is a temporary protection directive. The idea of this is to give people temporary protection. Almost everybody who has left Ukraine wants to go back home. Why would they not? Until now, Ukraine was quite a successful country. There are stories of Russian soldiers coming into villages and being shocked by the standard of living compared to what they have in Russia. Ukraine wants to improve on that standard of living. People want to go back when it is safe to do so, to rebuild their country. We will help them. We have limited resources, as does every country. I was talking to my ministerial counterpart in Rome, Vincenzo Amendola, and I asked him where were the Ukrainian people going who are arriving in Italy. There are a lot of church properties, gymnasiums, halls and so on being used there as well. I was reminded in Italy that there is a still a huge flow of people coming across the Mediterranean in very difficult circumstances. They are coming from all sorts of countries through north Africa. That is a very difficult situation. They do not have the same rights as Ukrainians. They have the right to apply for international protection if they are entitled to that but the temporary protection directive is there for the people of Ukraine in these particularly difficult circumstances.