Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have seen absolutely horrific pictures from Bucha which, I hope, will leave nobody in any doubt that the illegal Russian invasion and bombardment has crossed the line into war crime. I note Lithuania has expelled the Russian ambassador in response to events in Bucha. I again make the case that we should follow suit and rather than inviting the Russian ambassador to the Dáil, we should be instructing him to pack his bags and leave. We are a neutral country. We should be proud of our military neutrality. Our response to these types of actions need to be diplomatic and robust. Expelling the Russian ambassador is one strong measure we could take.

The Taoiseach, in his response to questions about the European Council meetings, did not reference the issues of food security and agriculture supports, unless I missed it. A number of questions about the pig sector were put to the Taoiseach earlier. Some 5% of pig farmers have now left the sector. They are in desperate need of further supports. They acknowledge the supports that are in place but farmers from across all sectors have for several months been suffering as a result of increased input costs and, in many cases, depressed prices. Will the Taoiseach inform us as to whether or not he will be utilising and leveraging the European crisis reserve and co-financing to the maximum permitted level of 200%? Will he ensure that some of the Brexit adjustment reserve package of €1 billion that was secured by Ireland, primarily as a result of the stories of Irish farmers, will go to Irish farmers? Those farmers have not yet received a penny while €100 million has been ring-fenced for the meat factories. These are important times that require important interventions.

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