Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt the Deputy when he was speaking.

Deputies in this House have talked about building an anti-war coalition. Does one know what happens to anti-war protesters on the streets of Moscow? They get locked up and are never heard from again. It is an utter fantasy that we can grasp our hands and pretend this does not involve us, that we can keep our mind out of it and that it is a matter of two equal aggressors. This is not about two equal aggressors. I am referring to the nonsense about NATO expansion. Independent, sovereign states that spent recent decades with an aggressor to their east sought EU and NATO membership for protection. This was not some imperialist plot from Washington, which certain Deputies who are not even in the Chamber would have us believe; it was the desperate decision of states that are being threatened, one of which has been invaded, mere kilometres from our shores. We have to wake up to the reality. Having an alarm at home does not make you aggressive or militaristic; it is about protecting your family. Protecting citizens is a responsibility of all governments. One cannot hide behind a convenient fig leaf.

We had a fundamental debate last week in the Chamber about the future of our Defence Forces. I never want to see members of the Defence Forces put in harm’s way but I do want to see them equipped, paid and protected in carrying out their foremost duty, which is to protect the State. That is why our defence spending will increase. The constant references to the desire for an EU army denigrates the debate when we are talking about fundamental security and co-operation. It may be Ukraine today but it could be Estonia, Lithuania or Latvia tomorrow. The Estonian people had their entire social welfare system shut down for three days in August due to cyberattacks from Russia. Therefore, I do not buy the line that we cannot co-operate and that we do not have a fundamental duty and responsibility as an EU member state to co-operate with other like-minded countries. These are our allies. We are not alone in the world.

Let me return to the situation at hand. We are at an extremely perilous point. We are dealing with a country whose population is the same size as that of Nigeria, whose economy is the same size as that of Italy and whose military is the same size, or a little smaller, than that of France. The difference is that it is prepared to ruin its economy, jeopardise its population and use its military. The western world has a duty and responsibility to act. There are three options on the table. The third, I hope, will never be availed of because the consequences are so grave. We need to see continuing, expansive, fundamental sanctions. We also need to see a continued diplomatic effort, but let us not be fools regarding the state we are negotiating with. We need to ensure a broadening alliance that includes the EU, US, Australia, Japan, non-EU NATO member states and any other country that believes in democracy. The speech by the Kenyan foreign minister at the UN Security Council is one we should all refer to. There are dark days ahead and the worst-case scenario does not bear thinking about. We are talking about a military escalation that has not been seen since the Balkan wars. It could be far greater than that. We could see hordes of refugees flooding into the European Union, fleeing for their lives. There could be mass murder, mass devastation, energy stoppages and conflict of the most worrying level seen this century, or probably for 75 years.

This is a very sombre debate. As I stated, it is easy for us to remove ourselves, talk about the figures and refer to the headlines and highlights. We do not need to demonstrate and talk about our sovereignty to the Ukrainian people. We need to empathise with the Ukrainian people, who is represented here by their ambassador, and with her family members and friends. Tomorrow morning, we will wake up not knowing what Vladimir Putin has in mind for them and their children.

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