Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in unison with the rest of the House in condemnation of what is happening in Ukraine. I do not think there can be any room for being neutral in a linguistic sense on an issue like this. What is happening in Ukraine is an appalling human rights catastrophe and a criminal act by a desperate Putin regime. The murder and mayhem inflicted on Ukraine, the levelling of homes and cities and the fact that 50% of the children of Ukraine are now homeless or are refugees on the move as a result of an appalling act have rightly moved the entire world to respond as it has done.

It is somewhat unfortunate that some in the House would seek to criticise our appropriate response because we do not respond in a similar fashion to other wars elsewhere in the globe. It is true to say that this is in our backyard and has particular resonance because it is the first full-scale war on European soil and is happening on the borders of the European Union. For that reason, it is different. Nonetheless, all wars are appalling, be they in Ukraine, Iraq, Yemen, Syria or anywhere else. Some find it difficult to be on the side of the European Union, the United Nations or USA and to be critical of former colleagues in Marxist-Leninist countries like Russia.

I commend the Government on its political response. At an EU level, we have been in the vanguard of endeavours and, in particular, in our role at the United Nations. This conflict has exposed the failings of the United Nations structurally. In the context of the broader debate about neutrality, the House could consider why we should outsource our right to act as a people in terms of the veto capacity in the United Nations, in particular the veto of Russia on the Security Council. That is something that needs to be factored into the broader debate on neutrality and where we sit on this issue. I have been particularly heartened by the political response at Government and European Union levels and by the efforts at United Nations level, flawed and all as that organisation is.

This is a whole-of-government issue. I appreciate that the Ministers, Deputies Coveney and O'Gorman, are, in many respects, the personification of the challenge that we face in terms of what is happening in Ukraine and how it is impacting on our shores. Every Department has a role to play. Others have referenced the impact on agriculture and education, health services and energy services. We would do well to reflect on energy policy here in light of what is happening in Ukraine and how it has brought home to us our excessive dependence on imported fuels.

If the lights go off here, nothing will undermine the consensus around the agenda for sustainable development and energy policy more than such an act. We will be foolish to be ideologically hidebound on such matters and should acknowledge that transition fuels, as we progress to a journey of reduced dependence on non-renewable energy sources, are something we would do well to take on board.

We need to consider the scale of the challenge we are facing, whether it is 14,000, 24,000, 40,000 or 100,000 refugees. Whatever the numbers are, we will very quickly be confronted with the magnitude of that challenge and how it manifests itself in what some would consider to be the less than optimal accommodation we can offer. That is why the Irish Red Cross needs to reach out to local authorities, in particular, as well as local development companies, etc., to examine how they could assist in, for example, processing the 20,000 offers of accommodation. The need for that is evident from the people I know who have registered their interest with the Irish Red Cross and have not been contacted yet.

Given the scale of the challenge now unfolding in terms of the numbers arriving here, it is clear that the Irish Red Cross needs assistance. It is not a sign of weakness to acknowledge that. We are grappling with an enormous challenge, and we need to take assistance wherever we can get it. Local authorities are well positioned to process some of the offers of accommodation. Not all of them will materialise. Therefore, we have to be prepared for the visualisation of temporary accommodation as a solution. We have heard commentary around tented towns and villages. For example, the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet is gearing up for this effort. No community has better experience in the country than Millstreet in terms of its previous capacity in dealing with direct provision, etc.

The Government's response has mirrored, at a political and humanitarian level, the response of the Irish people, which has been quite extraordinary. There are difficult days ahead. Nobody is suggesting that we should limit our ambition. We should respond appropriately and not put a ceiling on the numbers, but the numbers will be very difficult to deal with and that is why the Irish Red Cross needs to reach out to local government in particular. It is very well equipped and has shown its capacity to reach out and deal with matters at a local level such as, for example, the Covid response. We need to consider local authorities stepping in to assist the Irish Red Cross in this area.

I want to conclude on the point that one of the first casualties of war is truth and we need to differentiate between the Putin regime and the Russian people. We need to explore, as a global community, ways to get our message across to the broader Russian population because I do not believe would necessarily support the kind of inhumane atrocities being inflicted on Ukraine at present.

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