Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate. I am grateful to the Taoiseach for updating us on the special European Council meeting that took place on 24 and 25 March. I will not lie. The results of this are extremely disappointing. The fifth round of sanctions that were announced yesterday at the ECOFIN meeting, while very welcome, are yet another piecemeal approach to this situation. If we truly want to have an impact and cut off the financing of President Vladimir Putin's vicious war machine, we need to stop messing around. We need to go straight to the level of meaningful and far-reaching sanctions that will have an impact. That the EU is still paying Russia for oil, gas and, up until a couple of days from now, coal is abhorrent. This money is going directly into financing the guns, tanks and bombs that are ruining Ukraine and taking the lives of women, children, men and fighters on an hourly basis.

I was appalled this morning when an Irish Member of the European Parliament stated that the latest round of sanctions make her sick. What makes me sick are the images of children having their names and address written on their backs, some of whom are the same age as my daughter and wearing nappies, and those of children who have been raped and murdered lying strewn on the street. That particular Members of this House could not have the good grace and courtesy to applaud a man who is leading his country against a vicious war machine was absolutely reprehensible. The whataboutery and the sheer mental and ethical gymnastics utilised to excuse this lack of dignity, for a brief moment made me ashamed to be a Member of this House. The vast majority of Members of this House, like the vast majority of people across this country, know that what is happening in Ukraine is a fight between good and evil. The evil is very much being directed from Moscow by President Vladimir Putin and the stooges and oligarchs who surround him. They are the people who the European Union is continuing to allow access SWIFT completely. They are the people who are lining their pockets while they send young boys off as conscripts to murder women and children in Ukraine. It is an absolutely appalling state of affairs, the likes of which have not been seen on this Continent since the darkest days of the Second World War. That is why at the next emergency European Council meeting, because there will be another meeting held in an emergency status and another round of sanctions, we need to see the most meaningful, purposeful sanctions and to see the Irish Minister take the lead at that meeting. No more whataboutery and no increments.

This afternoon, we heard the absolute appalling comment by the newly re-elected Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr. Viktor Orbán, when he said that he has no problem paying the Russians in roubles for their gas. What sort of a cretinous line is that to take? The EU cannot just be strong with its own members; it also has to look at its partner countries around the world and ask them to state clearly if they are with us or against us. It needs to look at the United Arab Emirates and countries far closer to home such as Serbia, which aspires to join the European Union, and Brazil, Russia, India and China - the BRIC countries - and the North African countries that are happy to continue to facilitate and service the Russian war machine. They need to be cut-off from European markets.

The EU needs to take its place as the leader of the free and open Western world. The EU is the largest economic bloc. We have spent the past number of years talking about the power and importance of he Single Market. Where will that power and importance be when the people of Bucha return to their homes and see them levelled and the bodies their loved ones lying not in a ditch or a shallow grave but strewn along the roadway? We have seen the tactics of this vile and brutal Russian machine in these cities. No doubt, when the Ukrainian Army liberates Mariupol, it will uncover the sort of sites and scenes that will make us all genuinely sick to our stomachs. We will sickened not by faux words about sanctions, but by genuine scenes. The approach of the Russian Government to the people of Ukraine and the people of Europe is appalling.

The response of the European Council at its most recent meeting and at ECOFIN yesterday simply is not good enough. I am probably the most pro-European Member of this House. I spend pretty much every day talking about the importance of Europe but I have no problem being critical when I need to be. The European response to the war in Ukraine so far has not been good enough. I know our response will strengthen. We thought the first round of sanctions again Russia would be good enough. We are now on the fifth round of sanctions.

Decisions will, unfortunately, also have to be made in Ireland. We talk about solidarity and we received the warm words of President Zelenskyy this morning. We must ask if we are doing enough and if we have a credible plan to do enough, not just for the Ukrainian people but for our partners in the European Union as we deal with the fallout of this brutal war.

There are two more areas I would like to raise, the first of which relates to our response to receiving refugees and the need for a co-ordinated European Union plan. I do not believe a plan has been fully worked out yet. We need a plan for the next couple of months and for relief efforts to buttress the efforts of Poland, Moldova, Slovakia and other member states but we must also realise that our guests from Ukraine are going to be in our countries for a number of years. That realisation needs to be accompanied by a genuine Europe-wide plan for their relocation and shelter, and for the provision of employment opportunities and social protection. We must also bear in mind that these people are coming from a war-torn area and a traumatic situation and will be facing into many more months when traumatic stories from war-torn areas will be coming to their homes. How are they going to react when they get news that their 19-year-old son, their brother or husband has been killed in action? How will they feel when they see the images coming from Bucha or Mariupol, knowing well that they could be their neighbourhoods, as they sit in Lisdoonvarna, Killiney, Roscommon or wherever they might be? We need to be able to take this approach. Some 10 million Ukrainians have lost their homes in the largest displacement of people since the Second World War and we need a level of joined-up thinking.

The cost of living crisis is one that everyone across this House talks about on a daily basis. Everyone presents different solutions. We must listen to each other and disagree when we need to. It is key that we consider the European approach to the cost of living crisis. I was disappointed that the read-out from the European Council meeting showed that the European Commission asked member states to look at the open toolbox of opportunities. What is needed is clear. The Irish Government needs to bring to the next European Council meeting a resolve to achieve a derogation on VAT rates for fuel. The ability to cut VAT has saved other sectors of our economy during tough economic times in the past. This is about providing genuine relief to households and businesses across the country quickly. It would be far more meaningful than many of the other suggestions that are being made.

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