Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will focus my questions on the situation in Ukraine, starting with the refugee component. Everyone in the House is aware that almost 2,500 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in this jurisdiction in the last number of weeks. In fairness to the Irish public, their response has been extraordinary. They have opened up their hearts and homes to people fleeing war from the opposite side of the Continent. The main point of entry to this State for Ukrainian refugees is Dublin Airport but the main points of departure from the war zone are the two Polish airports of Rzeszów and Kraków. There is no Irish State presence at those two airports. Would it be worth deploying a small team of diplomats or administrators there to begin the processing in Poland? That would provide an early warning for our people in Dublin Airport so we could have an idea of the numbers coming through. It would be good from an evacuation point of view so it could proceed in good order. We should not be sitting passively in Dublin Airport waiting for refugees to arrive. We should be proactively getting information and passing it on.

Our embassies in Warsaw and Bucharest are under massive pressure at the moment. Has any consideration been given to redeploying some people in the Department of Foreign Affairs, either from Iveagh House or from other embassies, to those two embassies that are under significant pressure? Any thoughts the Minister might have on that would be much appreciated.

On the defence component, the Commission on the Defence Forces reported in January after 14 months of forensic analysis. We have been told since then that the Government will now require an additional four to five months to analyse the analysis. This brings another dimension to the phrase "the paralysis of analysis". Other EU countries have made decisions on the resourcing of their military in hours or days, because they recognise the severity and gravity of the threat. Can that four- to five-month timescale be shortened to four to five weeks? We all understand that under normal circumstances you should measure twice and cut once, like any good tradesperson, but these are not normal times.

For the first 90 years of this State's existence, we had a stand-alone, dedicated Minister for Defence but for the last ten years the job has been paired up with another portfolio. It is fortuitous that the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, is sitting next to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, at the moment. He is holding down two portfolios. We are now entering a period of considerable conflict in the Continent of Europe and we do not know where that trajectory is going to take us. Has any consideration been given to once again establishing a dedicated, stand-alone Minister for Defence at the Cabinet table? I appreciate that there is a constitutional ceiling of 15 senior Ministers but perhaps a "super junior" Minister could be considered. I do not think the public would have a difficulty with that for the duration of this crisis.

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