Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will take up that offer. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I appreciate that. I also welcome the Taoiseach back. Fáilte ar ais. I pay tribute to my colleague, and the outgoing leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Kelly, for his immense work, commitment and contribution to the party, to the House and to public debate over many years.

My solidarity and that of the Labour Party is with the people of Ukraine, who for the past month have been enduring the horrific war crimes and the brutal Russian invasion and bombardment. I have just come from the funeral of Pierre Zakrzewski. I was honoured to receive an invitation to attend from Michelle and his family. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, was also there. I pay tribute to the immense bravery of Mr. Zakrzewski and that of his colleagues, war reporters and journalists, who have brought us news of the atrocities and shone a spotlight on the war crimes being committed daily in Ukraine by Russia and Putin's brutal regime.

There is a moral and political imperative on us to do more to support the people of Ukraine through all the peaceful and humanitarian means at our disposal.

We have supported Ukraine's application for accession to the EU, which is very welcome, and we have moved with a number of EU states on that. We have opened our doors to refugees fleeing Ukraine and I pay tribute to the many people across Ireland welcoming refugees and doing so much to support refugees coming here.

I call again for the expulsion of the Russian ambassador from Ireland. If EU member states do not act in concert in such action, as would be ideal, we should move to do it unilaterally. The time has come when we see the horrors of Mariupol and the horrors being rained down on the people of Ukraine. It is now incumbent on us to do this.

Remaining conscious of the carnage and loss of life in Ukraine, I believe the Government should be doing more to support people through the fallout of the war in Ukraine, which has compounded the three crises facing people across the country today. There is a crisis in the cost of living, with rising inflation; a crisis in fuel and energy security and supply; and, of course, the existential climate emergency or crisis. The effects of the terrible war in Ukraine are, among other things, posing a threat to the limited but nonetheless welcome gains we saw at an international level in reducing emissions at COP26 and our own welcome ambitious targets in the climate action Act.

We know European countries are seeking ways to reduce reliance on Russian oil and gas and I have called for Ireland at an EU level to do more to push for a full embargo on Russian oil and gas. In order to do that, we must ensure we do not look to other fossil fuels in that period as that is not the approach we should be taking. For example, there are reports that nine liquefied natural gas terminals are due to be constructed on this island, with eight in this jurisdiction, over coming years, and that is concerning. It would be concerning to see us locking ourselves into that when instead we should be looking at ramping up our renewables and our capacity in renewables. We are seeing concerns being expressed by Wind Energy Ireland and others about how we can achieve those targets.

What is the Government doing on a process to expel the Russian ambassador? What is the Government doing to ensure we can have energy security without further reliance on fossil fuels?

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