Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

What is happening in Ukraine is an absolute disaster. It is a tragedy and an inhumane injustice. Ireland needs to do all it can to help Ukrainians. Bizarrely, dozens of Government Deputies signed a petition to expel the Russian ambassador, yet the Government has said "No" to them. The Deputies, therefore, are in opposition and in government at the same time. It is a strange scenario whereby the Government will not make a decision because it has not got permission from the EU to do so. There is irony in the fact that a sovereign country will not make a decision regarding the Russian ambassador in order to protect the sovereignty of another country.

There have been allegations that the Russian mission in Ireland has a large number of spies here. Is this the case? It has been further alleged that the threat from Russia is particularly high - higher even than that from jihadists or dissident republicans. Is this the case? The Taoiseach stated that he is a realist when it comes to the fact that Russian spies are in Ireland, which amounts to an admission that they are here. Is that not reason enough to expel the Russian mission?

See this speech in context