Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

It is hard to find words to describe the horror of the war in Ukraine. Undoubtedly, this shocking invasion has led to a strong desire among Irish people to help in any way we can. Ukraine and Ireland share many parallels between their histories. Ukraine is lodged right up against a large colonial power, has suffered from extensive and devastating famines because of the decisions of that colonial power and aggressive wars were also waged against the smaller country by that colonial power. Undoubtedly, we cannot afford to stand idly by. We should be as active as we can be in respect of offering support, in a humanitarian sense, and also agitating for peace and de-escalation.

I find it hard, however, to find evidence of this Government agitating or working for de-escalation. In the last several months especially, it seems the Government has outsourced much of our foreign affairs activities to the EU. When Aontú pushed for the Government to expel the Russian ambassador, the response was that it would wait for the rest of Europe to do so also. The Government said the action would have more power if the EU as a whole acted. It may be true that a collective decision would have more impact and influence. Collective indecision, however, does not have any more power or influence. In fact, we could show leadership in making these decisions ourselves. It seems shocking that we would outsource our sovereignty on these key issues, supposedly to help the sovereignty of Ukraine.

It is important for us to have a leadership role in respect of the decisions we take to help Ukraine in its time of need. I look at countries such as Israel and France in this regard. Their leaders picked up the phone and made an effort to talk to the leadership in Russia about de-escalation. Many would say it is hardly likely that people will listen to Ireland in this situation. On the flip side, though, it is hardly likely that 100 rockets being sent over from the Curragh to Ukraine is going to change the nature of the war there, yet we have seen many people from the Government benches argue that Ireland should start to feed lethal weapons into that war.

That would be a grave mistake. Ireland has a strong and proud history of neutrality. It has a proud history as well in respect of UN peacekeeping, of anti-colonialism, of fighting against nuclear weapons and of missionary work. We saw missionaries leave this country for generations to go to the developing world to help to build that developing world. As a result of that strong work, we have a great reputation internationally. An Irish passport opens minds and doors everywhere we go. We have a competency, if you like, in being a country that can be seen to help to de-escalate situations and to be able to send people in to sit down and try to work with different factions to see if we can bring about peace. Our own peace process gives us expertise in that space as well.

If we were to get involved in aligning ourselves with military blocs, we would undoubtedly squander our reputation, competitive advantage and competency in this regard. People who have studied neutrality and military blocs will tell us that those blocs have often used wars to look after their own economic needs. We have, indeed, seen NATO being involved in military conflicts as a result, primarily, of its own economic needs. Small countries have little influence in respect of directing the actions of large military blocs. It is absolutely illogical therefore to think that Ireland would have influence over any military bloc, be it the EU or NATO, in respect of how it uses its military. Yet we would have to supply military hardware and, potentially, young men and women to fight in those wars.

An interesting example of our influence, compared to that of Germany, was that the EU decided to take the step towards providing military hardware to Ukraine based simply on the fact that Germany decided to change its policy in this regard. As soon as Germany changed its policy, the policy changed throughout the EU. Therefore, we must ensure that we focus on humanitarian aid. We can do a great deal in this respect. We have not exhausted our ability to help, and the need for that help, in any way whatsoever. We are only touching the tip of the iceberg in this respect. We can save lives through the provision of medical supplies to people in Ukraine. They need blood, oxygen, medicines, warm clothing, tents and sleeping bags and other materials of this type and we can provide far more in that context.

I pay tribute to the role played by people like Laura O'Neill, a representative of Aontú in Westmeath, in respect of gathering an enormous amount of material to send over to Poland to help people in Ukraine. I also commend Elaine Dunne from the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, FECP, who is on her way to Poland with a truck full of medical and humanitarian material. This is the real impact people here can have in helping our brothers and sisters in Ukraine.

Turning to the issue of refugees, I note that the Taoiseach and other leaders of the Government appeared on international media making highbrow speeches in the context of welcoming refugees to Ireland. I also note, however, that at the time I was getting phone calls from social welfare offices telling me they were dealing with people coming here from Ukraine but did not know what to do with them. I was getting phone calls from the offices of GPs to say they had people from Ukraine arriving but that they had got no direction from the Government about how to deal with those people. A young Ukrainian woman also rang me from Limerick. She had flown in, met with her friends in Dublin Airport, and then did not know where to go in respect of securing housing when she was in Limerick. People like those working in the Red Cross have done great work in helping refugees.

My key point, and I would like the Minister to pay particular attention to it, is that there must be an interdepartmental task force to deal with refugees coming into the State. For ten years, this State has welcomed approximately 4,500 refugees annually. In the last four weeks, though, it has welcomed about 15,000 refugees. Therefore, there is a need for centralised, interdepartmental co-operation to ensure that all key stakeholders are involved and good communication about what is happening.

Right around the country, I can think of church leaders, parish priests, community groups and civil society groups doing phenomenal work. I understand from speaking to these groups that the Government is yet to engage with them, and that is not right. The Government should do the media briefings and appearances but its members should do the background work first and get the key elements sorted.

We are hearing stories about sex for rent and I am delighted such practices are being addressed by a Bill in the Dáil. We must ensure there is absolutely no space for exploitation in any way here and there can be accountability right through society about what is happening. I have a fear that we will see Ukrainians being sent to direct provision centres at some stage in this process. We already know that in my county at Gormanstown, the Army is looking at using tents to deal with the refugee crisis. I would like to see more effort being made to get vacant homes right across the State back into use for housing refugees coming here. There are many old schools, convents and buildings in this country and I know some in my constituency that are in the hands of the church or the State that have been empty for long periods. We need to get those buildings back into use to ensure we can accommodate refugees. Many of the steps necessary to house the many people already searching for homes in this country are the same as those needed to house refugees. Work done in this respect would help with both of these problems.

I pay tribute to the group MECPATHS for the fantastic work it has done in combating human trafficking. It has called for all front-line staff to be trained in identifying the exploitation of women and children in the context of a refugee crisis. Will the Government ensure this happens? Human trafficking is something that does not get adequate discussion or debate in this House and I commend JP, Ann and all those at MECPATHS for the constant campaigning they do on this issue. It is absolutely appalling that this State is an outlier in the lack of work it does to protect people who are trafficked. It is something we do not see and it is hidden for many people in society but it is absolutely real for hundreds of people on an annual basis in this State.

I will briefly speak about the amount of money washing around in the Irish Financial Services Centre, IFSC. It is incredible that there are billions of Russian roubles washing around the IFSC, with people trying to circumvent the sanctions that have been placed on Russia by the West. The Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland was before a finance committee here a few minutes ago. I do not want to put words in his mouth but I can paraphrase him. He believes there are up to 15 or 16 entities in the IFSC with connections with sanctioned individuals or entities in Russia. I have asked the Government numerous times if it will investigate what is happening. I have also asked the Central Bank if it is investigating what is happening. It has indicated, being honest, that its role is administrative and it does not have a proactive role in the process. I have called the Garda economic bureau and asked what it is doing to investigate but I have received no answer. What is the Government doing to investigate the billions of euro or Russian roubles washing around the IFSC?

At the same time there are Government parties here looking to sanction Poland. Instead of ensuring sanctions are enforced against Russia in this country, they are seeking sanctions for the country that has taken the most refugees during this crisis. Poland has taken over 2 million refugees and none of them is being put into a camp; I understand all of them are being taken into homes. That comes at a massive cost to Poland. I give credit to the Polish people and the Polish ambassador for the work Poland has done. Nevertheless, there are political parties in this House and the European Union that seek to enforce sanctions against Poland at this time. I ask those parties to desist from such actions and ensure Poland can have the necessary funding to deal with the refugee crisis there.

It is very important we see actions rather than words in helping refugees and providing accommodation. We must ensure the proper action is taken with the sanctions against Russia.

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