John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The ambassador is very welcome to our committee on what is a harrowing anniversary. It is hard to believe it is nearly one year since the full and illegal invasion by Russia into Ukraine. I reiterate my full support and that of my party for the people of Ukraine and its full territorial integrity and the immediate full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. It is frightening to think it is a year on Friday since the full invasion.

The ambassador is aware that last April I travelled to Romania and Moldova. I saw at first hand the impact in the first few months when innocent civilians were targeted and used as a weapon of war. I saw hundreds if not thousands of ordinary civilians, including women with small children, fleeing over the border, predominantly from Odesa into Siret and Moldova. Young mothers were crying with their children, not knowing where they would end up.

I had the honour of meeting the ambassador in Greystones in my constituency just before Christmas in the fantastic Tiglin centre, which is being used to house Ukrainian refugees. That, along with my experience on what was essentially the front line in April, brought the situation home to me. That was especially the case when I spoke to a young man in Tiglin who had fled Ukraine with his young son. The ambassador will remember the reason he is there.

As he was packing his bags to send his wife and son to safety in Ireland, the mother was killed in front of their eyes. Anyone questioning the support that Ireland is giving the people of Ukraine should take their time and go and speak to people who have lost loved ones through the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Everything Ireland is doing, we are doing for a reason - we are doing it for the right reason - and I think anyone who is questioning that needs to cop themselves on and think twice about the impact it is having on ordinary Ukrainian people. I will just say that.

I still get emotional when thinking about that so I can only imagine how the ambassador and ordinary Ukrainians feel about what is going on daily. We have seen 14 million Ukrainian people displaced, one third of the population, with 6 million displaced internally. Over 75,000 have now come to seek refuge in Ireland and they are very welcome. I know every town and every county across Ireland has opened its arms and embraced them, and they have done everything they can to make people feel welcome.

There have been challenges in terms of the provision of accommodation, and I know the ambassador spoke out before Christmas in trying to send a message to Ukrainians around some of those challenges. Do those challenges still present themselves or has the ambassador seen a change in terms of the provision of the critical accommodation that is coming on stream for people?

From day one, Russia has lost this war, especially when we think of everything that has moved against them and the solidarity of the international community. Even a neutral country such as Moldova is now looking at its security and where it needs to be to protect itself, and conversations are starting about NATO membership. When we look at Finland and Sweden and how this invasion has changed their domestic defence policies, we can see it has been totally counterproductive from Russia's perspective. They have lost this war from day one.

I ask the ambassador about the ten-point peace plan. A resolution is to come before the UN General Assembly this week, and I believe 60 countries have now signed that resolution. I hope it is passed and that it gets overwhelming or even unanimous support from all 190-plus members of the General Assembly. The ambassador might touch on how that is going and what kind of feedback she is getting.

I want to raise the issue of accountability for war crimes. I fully support the investigation by the International Criminal Court, ICC. I welcome the funding that has been allocated from the Irish Government to the ICC and that needs to proceed apace. I have said previously that it is essential that evidence is collected in a timely fashion to ensure those responsible for carrying out war crimes are held fully to account. I am sure it is very difficult in a war situation to access some areas, and we have seen the atrocities carried out in places like Bucha. With regard to getting people on the ground in a timely fashion to collect evidence and having personnel available, such as skilled forensic scientists, given there are thousands of live investigations, what are the current challenges? Is there a need for more assistance to collect the forensics that are needed?

I fully support the nine rounds of sanctions that have been imposed. There was a report this week which stated that the Russian economy only contracted by 2.1%, although I do not know how independent those figures are, given they came from Russia's statistics agency. While I look forward to the tenth round of sanctions that is being worked on, I ask how effective the ambassador thinks the sanctions have been to date and what more should or could be done. We know Russia and its oligarchs are doing different things to sidestep some of those sanctions. Is there more that should or could be done to ensure the sanctions are fully implemented and there are no grey areas? What additional measures should be taken? If it is accurate that the economy has only contracted by 2.1%, that would be a concern. When the sanctions were being discussed, there was an expectation that it would impact on the Russian economy by about 12%, so it seems a good bit off. I would like to get the ambassador's view in that regard.

I began my contribution with reference to civilians being used as a weapon of war and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, which is a gross violation of international law. We have seen the devastating impact this has had on ordinary civilians in Ukraine, but not only in Ukraine. We know Moldova imports about 20% of its energy supply from Ukraine, so a direct attack such as we have seen from October onwards on the energy infrastructure in Ukraine has had a direct impact on Moldova as well.

To conclude, the ambassador has my total support and the total support of my party.