Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The special European Council meeting held on 24 February and the informal meeting held in Versailles on 10 and 11 March, as well as the scheduled Council meeting that took place on 24 and 25 March were all dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and rightly so. The situation in Ukraine is becoming more horrific by the day. What has been revealed in the town of Bucha and around Kyiv following the retreat of the Russian forces is appalling. Innocent victims have been targeted. Sexual violence, torture and summary executions have been carried out by Russian troops. No doubt this was done with President Putin's knowledge. President Zelenskyy has described these events as genocide.

Our solidarity with Ukraine and the solidarity of EU member states must remain firm. Ireland has not been found wanting in our response to this war. We have consistently supported comprehensive sanctions on Russia, including the fifth round announced yesterday, which involves a ban on Russian coal imports and on Russian ships entering EU ports, among other things. I understand a ban on Russian oil is also being worked on and I hope this can be agreed on at the earliest opportunity. We got behind the measures proposed under the European peace facility. We fully responded to the enormous humanitarian crisis now unfolding. We wholeheartedly backed Ukraine's application for EU membership and I hope the European Commission's opinion in this regard will be available quickly and that it will be a positive one. President Zelenksyy, in his address to both Houses this morning, thanked Ireland for our financial and humanitarian support and also asked us, through our Taoiseach, to bring pressure to bear on the European Council and indeed the Commission to go further with the sanctions. In his response the Taoiseach said he would do that, which I welcome. We must do everything possible to bring this war to an end, stop the slaughter of innocent civilians and have a ceasefire put in place as soon as possible.

President Biden has stated the Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought the world to a tipping point of fundamental change with a battle for supremacy between democracy and autocracy.

That is certainly an interesting analysis. In this context, I want to draw attention to the meeting in recent days between the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council with the Chinese President and Prime Minister. The response of China to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been ambiguous. The EU must insist that China does not try to assist Russia in evading sanctions or to supply Russia with weaponry. China should be proactive in trying to bring about an end to the conflict and encourage a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine. We have lots of reasons to be critical of China but it would be doing the world a great favour if it embarked on this diplomatic course of action.

Questions have also been asked about India's position on the war in Ukraine and the Taoiseach has also raised this issue. India has not agreed to sanctions or condemned the Russian invasion. Recently Russia's foreign minister, Mr. Sergeĭ Lavrov, has actually praised the neutral stance taken by Prime Minister Modi with regard to the war. This is disappointing and must surely have consequences, as countries take sides in the aforementioned democracy vs autocracy conflict.

As we know, there have been many calls to expel the Russian ambassador to Ireland, Mr. Yury Filatov, and in effect, to break off diplomatic relations with Russian, given the blatant lies he has told us on national television and elsewhere. At the very least, that man needs to do a course in Carr Communications or maybe our former colleague, Mr. Ivan Yates could assist him when he is doing television appearances. I am aware of the advice given by the Government on this matter, having regard to the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has said that any move to expel the ambassador as well as staff and so-called operatives would result in reciprocal action being taken by the Russian authorities in respect of our embassy in Moscow. This could jeopardise our strategic interests, including the need to obtain on the ground, first-hand information and also the prospect of assisting Irish citizens in need in the region. He has also said that any action in this regard will be taken in co-ordination with our EU partners. Of course, he was dead right to block the planning application by the embassy to greatly expand its buildings on the Russian embassy site. As we know, four Russian diplomats based in the Russian embassy in Ireland have been expelled. Other EU member states have taken similar action. In diplomatic speak, the expelled Russian diplomats in Ireland were engaged in activities that were "not in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behaviour". There is no doubt in my mind that these so-called diplomats were military spies engaged in the collection of intelligence and espionage and sources close to An Garda Síochána have said as much. The suggestion is that the four were part of the Russian military agency known as the GRU. There are still many more Russian diplomats based in Orwell Road and the option of expelling the ambassador or more staff and operatives must be kept under active consideration.

The European Commission agreed to phase out our dependency on Russian oil, gas and coal by 2027. At the moment 40% of Europe's gas and 25% of Europe's oil comes from Russia. Arising from this, there have been huge increases in the price of fuel generally. It seems that there was agreement in principle at the European Council meeting to reduce VAT on fuel to 9%. Further engagement with the Commission in this regard is underway. As we know, the current rate is 13.5% in Ireland as a result of a derogation we obtained previously. If nothing changes and we implemented a temporary cut in VAT, the rate would revert to the standard rate of 23% afterwards. I hope that we can hear back from the European Commission on this matter in the near future.

I am pleased that the strategic compass has also been agreed by the European Council. Our traditional policy of military neutrality has been the cornerstone of our foreign policy and there should be no question of us joining a military alliance. That said, we should continue to play an active part in the development of the EU's common security and defence policy, having regard to the new challenges confronting Europe at this time. The demands for crisis management and peacekeeping should remain our guiding principle as regards the common security and defence policy and the associated strategic compass.

Finally, I would like to comment on the Conference on the Future of Europe. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the issues arising from that have given the conference an added impetus. It is hoped that the conference will conclude its business by 9 May next. This is an ambitious target. Concerns have been expressed about the methodology to be utilised to finalise the report. I hope that the voices of citizens will not be drowned out as this process concludes and that real and lasting improvements to the future workings of the EU and its institutions will be the outcome of this extensive consultation and deliberation by so many people.

The 50th anniversary of Ireland's referendum on joining the EU falls on 10 May next. The Government will be putting in place an EU 50 programme. I look forward to that celebration of our membership of the EU and the democratic values that it represents

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