Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My comments and questions are for the Ukrainian ambassador in particular, but I thank the Moldovan ambassador for her contribution. I welcome their fellow ambassadors in the Public Gallery.

There has been commentary to the effect that next Friday is the first anniversary of the illegal invasion by Russia into Ukraine. There is another significant anniversary around this time. On 1 February 2022, the Russian ambassador addressed this committee and he assured us on that occasion that Russia had no intention of invading Ukraine. He went on to say that Russia only goes into other countries by invitation. When it was pointed out to him by me and others on that occasion that in 2008, the people of Georgia did not invite Russia into their country he retorted that the Georgians were lucky they did not go all the way to Tbilisi. I agree with what my colleagues Senators Craughwell and O'Reilly have said, which is that if that particular invasion had been dealt with differently by the international community, Ukraine might not be suffering the consequences today. I want to ensure that the people of Georgia are not forgotten in this context.

The ambassador estimated that the recovery plan would take approximately €17 billion, to provide immediate essential infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, vital transport, energy reconstruction and housing, to mention but a few. She pointed out that there are substantial wealth deposits belonging to the Russian Government held all over the world, including within the European community, some of which has been identified. However, other deposits have not been identified. Specific mention was made of €1.8 billion in Ireland. Has that been identified and if so, why has it not been taken out of the control of the Russian Federation and put towards the €17 billion fund for the recovery plan?

That is my first question. We should also ask this of the rest of the European community. What are they doing about freezing the assets of the Russian Government when they know where it exists?

I thank the ambassador, Ms Miculet, for her contribution in respect of Moldova. I acknowledge that 700,000 refugees from Ukraine entered Moldova and that 85,000 of them still remain, half of whom are children. Are these children in the company of a parent or parents, or are they on their own? I thank the ambassador for the contribution her country has made in opening the safe solidarity lanes that have been critical in carrying 20 million tonnes of aid, cereals and other humanitarian products to date. That is only over a nine-month period. She said that the situation in Moldova remains very fragile due to Russia's war against Ukraine. We are witnessing various destabilisation attempts by Russia using its political proxies in Moldova. Will she elaborate further on that? I thank her for her contribution. I had other questions but I know we are under time pressure.