Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions and for his support of the approach the Government has taken so far. With regard to Ireland being categorised as an unfriendly country, all of the EU has been categorised as being unfriendly towards Russia. That is a term it has used previously, and then it takes action on the back of that. Any actions of the back of that statement a number of weeks ago have not happened yet, but we can expect it will act at some point in time. For example, last year when there was tension between the Czech Republic and Russia, the Czech Republic was named an unfriendly country and Russia took actions on the back of that. We do not know what will happen in that regard. To be honest, there are bigger issues with regard to what is happening in Ukraine right now than what an unfriendly country means for Ireland. We are very much part of the collective effort within the EU to respond in as comprehensive manner as possible to end this war and to ensure we maintain and increase the deterrent for the continuation of the war, which is what the focus of sanctions has been.

I will refer back to the final question, if I can, as I do not have time to answer it.

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