Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak today. The upcoming European Council meeting is probably one of the most important in our lifetime. Not in the recent past have we faced such terrible aggression and challenging circumstances as those we are currently facing. Putin and his army are causing life-changing damage to Ukraine and its people.

What we are witnessing right now is beyond what words can adequately describe. The killing and maiming of innocent men, women and children is beyond cruel. It is a terrible indictment on all of us that this is happening and looks like continuing for the foreseeable future.

If Putin gets his way in Ukraine, where is next on his list? I have argued that diplomacy must be the answer and it is for this reason that Europe must be united, which it has been so far, in order to bring a peaceful solution to this crisis. Unfortunately, every single one of us must suffer in the short term in order to stop this. What I mean by this is that Russia continues to supply gas to Europe valued at €250 million per day. By us paying these vast sums to Putin, we are in effect helping to fund his terrible war effort. The short term pain we must suffer now is that this valuable source of income for Putin must be stopped immediately. We will all suffer because of this but we need to bring the reliance we have on Russian gas to an end. If Putin did not have this source of funding, we can be sure that his war efforts could not be funded in the same way. I know that the subject of Russian gas is on the agenda for the upcoming Council meeting and I urge the Minister to make the strongest possible case for severe restrictions on Russian gas and how Putin supplies it to Europe. The bottom line is that if we can limit his supply of money, then we can limit his ability to wage war on innocent Ukrainians.

I note also that President Biden will address the meeting. It is important that the United States and Europe stand united in their approach to this crisis. Obviously, the last thing anyone wants is for the crisis to involve more countries and develop into something bigger than it already is, but at the same time we cannot allow Putin and his threats to stop us from taking the necessary steps to end this aggression.

One of the main reasons Putin was able to wage this aggression was the fact that he and his cronies have so much money tied up all around the world and have continued access to it. In recent weeks, I raised the possibility that Russian money was being laundered through the Irish Financial Services Centre, IFSC, in Dublin. Can the Minister give us an update on this? Can he confirm that the Government has taken the necessary steps to ensure that the IFSC is not and cannot be used by the Russians to launder dirty money, which as we all know is now being used to fund the terrible actions in Ukraine?

I also take this opportunity to acknowledge publicly and thank the people of Louth for their efforts so far to help our Ukrainian friends at this desperate time. The amount of supplies, including foods, medicines and clothes, among others, that was donated by the people of Louth in recent weeks has been fantastic. My understanding is that at least 12 lorryloads of supplies have been donated from Dundalk alone. At times of great need, the people of our community always step up to the mark, as can be seen on this occasion as well.

The next challenge we face is how to house adequately the many thousands of Ukrainians who are arriving in Ireland. Despite us being in the middle of our own housing crisis, we are stepping up to the challenge. Many people in Louth, and in particular Dundalk, have registered their homes to house Ukrainian families. Scores of Ukrainians have come to my constituency office in recent weeks. They were collected at Dublin Airport by members of their family and taken to Louth, in particular my home town of Dundalk. One family of four has taken in eight. Another family of four has taken in ten. We are talking about households with ten, 12 and 14 people living in them. I have contacted local authorities' numerous times. I contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Everyone is passing the buck from one to the other. All I hear from the Government is talk of the community. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, spoke this morning on national radio. He mentioned that hundreds of millions will be spent. Where are the hundreds of millions? In fairness, all we are doing at the moment is putting severe pressure on local authorities. In Louth, for example, there are approximately 6,000 people on the council waiting list. The last thing we need is conflict between Ukrainians coming to this country and people who think they have a God-given right to get a house, which they probably all think. There is no point in the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, having millions four or five months down the road. Now is the time to look after these people who are coming here. The last thing we want to do is put a wedge between the people on the council waiting list, who are waiting for their right to have their own house and the people of Ukraine, who are having a terrible time and suffering and being maimed. Women are leaving their husbands and children behind them and coming to a strange country where they cannot even speak the language. We need action, not talk.

I wish the Minister the very best of luck at the European Council meeting later this week. The task that faces Europe now is a massive one, but one that must be accomplished. The killing of innocent men, women and children must be stopped. Putin must be stopped at all costs. If he succeeds in Ukraine where is he going to go next? The only way to stop this monster is to cut the supply of funding to him. We need to act as one and recognise that all these people are suffering. We want to help them and we want to stop Putin. Never before in our lifetime have we faced such a crisis and I hope we do not face anything like it in the future. Whatever action or sanctions are needed now to stop this aggression must be taken. We stand with our Ukrainian friends. We will do everything in our power to ensure that we have a peaceful end to this conflict. Irish people have always stood up and done their best, but I can see a barrier coming between people. Some 10,000 people have come in recent weeks and there is talk of as many as 200,000 coming. We in Ireland are opening our arms to them. Instead of making promises and trying to put the responsibility back on communities, it is time for the Government to stand up and to spend the money it has.

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