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

With the indulgence of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, at the outset I would like to join others in this House and in the Seanad in marking the passing of David Hill on Saturday. David tragically passed away on the rugby pitch while we were playing the annual Ireland versus Scotland parliamentary game. It was an awful experience for all us who were present but, more pertinently, for David's friends, colleagues and his family, with whom I spent some time on Sunday. I would like to pass on my own personal condolences to our colleagues in the Scottish Parliament. I was lucky to play against him four or five times and to meet him many times. I considered him a friend. It was a tough loss. Today is a tough day for many of us.

In respect of this debate, I would like to briefly address a couple of areas. We have had most of the larger, wider philosophical discussions, such as about climate change and neutrality many times over. I do not seek to repeat them. Maybe there is a time when we will repeat them, but I have a few specific points and questions about the upcoming European Council meeting. The Minister of State might be able to respond to them in due course.

I join with others in wishing the Taoiseach well for a fast and speedy recovery. However, I am aware and cognisant that potentially, he will not be able to attend the meeting. I am aware of the rulings of the European Council. Can the Minister of State clarify which member state will be Ireland’s voice at the European Council meeting when it takes place? In due course, what will be in the memo to be sent forth from the Irish Government to that proxy about the position of the Irish Government regarding a couple of key issues that will need to be discussed at the European Council debate? It will focus Russia's brutal war in Ukraine and the many facets that impact us here in the European Union. Equally, it will focus on how we in the European Union react and respond to support the people of Ukraine.

Let us be under no illusion. The people of Ukraine are not just defending their country but at this stage, they are defending all of Europe from a violent and vicious aggressor who has invaded Europe in a manner and with means that are appalling. As every day goes past and with every hour or two we spend watching this unfold on our television sets, online or in the print media, it is harrowing to see. Munitions are being deployed on the civilian population and people are stating their belief that chemical weapons are now being used. This is appalling. It is war on scale that has not been seen on the European continent for some 70 years. It is not good enough to simply condemn the matter. It is not good enough to state our solidarity, to light up our buildings and to hang out our flags unless we continue, as much as is possible on a cross-party basis, to push the European Union to force a resolution in a form that is acceptable to the Ukrainian people.

First, I come to yet another discussion on European sanctions, not just those on Russia, but also on their proxy in Belarus, in occupied Georgia, and in the supporting entities that are allowing them, particularly in occupied eastern Ukraine, to carry out this brutal and vicious war. We have seen the European Union put unprecedented sanctions in place. However, we have had to see four or five rounds of sanctions. Yet, many of the measures that people were calling for from both sides of the House in terms of sanctions still have not been implemented. Other member states, admittedly not Ireland, are blocking this and are being extremely duplicitous, for want of a better word, in their reaction to this. It is absolutely galling.

First there is the continuing need to end immediately the importation of Russian oil and gas into the European Union, to put the fullest extent of sanctions on the financial services sector and to target those oligarchs, their proxies and their shell companies located across the European Union. We should continue use every European treaty possible to put pressure on non-European Union jurisdictions, such as Switzerland, that can make use of favourable terms and treaties with the Europeans to make these sanctions work. This will turn off the supply chain, turn off the money tap and turn off the financial fuels of war the Russian Federation is using to mercilessly carpet-bomb the people of Ukraine.

On the issue of supports that are needed for the people of Ukraine, as well as those for the people of Ukraine who are putting up the resistance, we need talk about humanitarian aid and about military assistance. We can all have a debate about that but I will not get into it today. However, it is clear that while what has been allocated so far and the tranches that have been delivered have helped, they will not be enough. We need a continuing European support. I saw an interesting tweet by an MEP from Luxembourg today, from my own political family. She said that today was the first day that she did not get a push notification from the media in Luxembourg about the war in Ukraine. As we enter the 25th or 26th day of this Russian invasion of Ukraine, we cannot allow ourselves to lose focus and lose interest in ensuring that the sanctions and the response of the Irish Government, the Irish people and equally, of the European Union, cannot be allowed to wane. This is because the intensity of the invasion is not waning. The intensity of the fight and the pressures on the people of Ukraine are not waning. There are 10 million Ukrainians who do not have a home any more and who are displaced. These are numbers that we have not seen since the Second World War. We cannot be allowed to get distracted, either by domestic political issues or by other international political issues.

I was speaking to groups across the country over the past couple of days. We are now seeing the impact of war starting to hit home for us on practical levels, such as in fuel prices, in food availability and in how we co-ordinate the humanitarian response to welcome Ukrainian refugees as guests into our country. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from the certainty of purpose about why we are doing this, about how we doing this and what the response needs to be.

I believe that this European Council meeting has to prepare not just a short-term response, but a medium- and long-term response. I say this because this war will not end quickly. The fallout from this war will not end quickly. We will not saying that we can cater for refugees for the next couple of weeks or that this is the financial support to be provided for the next couple of weeks when this invasion could go on for weeks, months and God knows how much longer after that. At the end of the day, if your house has been blown up, if your husband has been killed, if your son has been killed and if you have nowhere to go back to, you have to look to the European Union. You have to look to the Irish Government, to the aid agencies and to the people of the countries of the European Union - particularly Ireland - for protection and for guidance through what will be a harrowing and traumatic period of time that none of us can comprehend to be quite frank with ourselves.

We can talk about this in the abstract. We can use that as a basis for a debate. However, every single Member has had people who are originally from Ukraine or who are Ukrainian citizens living in our constituencies. They have come to us and have looked for assistance in getting their family members out. They have looked for assistance in pastoral support. In the same way, families in our constituencies might be offering up a holiday home or their spare room. This will not be a response for a couple of months. Those families, both Irish families and Ukrainian families, will need a continuing response. The response is not a normal one. These people are fleeing the traumas of war. Their lives have been crushed. The sad news is that is only going to continue.

In conclusion, my appeal is that this European Council does not take a short-term view. They might now apply half the sanctions that many of us had been calling for three weeks ago, stop dilly-dallying and stop letting personal concerns get in the way. Second, they should lay out a genuine two-year plan for how we deal with the fallout from this bloody, vicious war.

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