Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his opening statement. Having read the motion, I do not have any major difficulty with it and will be happy to support its passage through the Dáil later on this evening. I will do so for a number of reasons. First, Eurojust has established itself as quite a credible and competent agency over the past 20 years, since its inception in 2002, in relation to the exchange of criminal justice information between law enforcement agencies. All we are being asked to do here is to expand the mandate of Eurojust which, in light of changing circumstances, seems to make perfect sense to me. We also all know what is happening in Ukraine at the moment. It is being beamed into our living rooms every evening. If even half of what we see is true, it is obvious that major numbers of war crimes, crimes against humanity and atrocities are taking place. There are many investigators on the ground at the moment, both national and international, as well as from civil society. It is important they have a central hub or co-ordinating point to store all their information safely. Because Ukraine is an active war zone, it is not safe to store information there at present. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to use Eurojust and its facility in The Hague, which is where I presume they will store this information. This is particularly true in light of the fact that many of the personal testimonies are now scattered all over the European Union, because they have been brought by refugees into various European Union countries.

The second point I wish to make is on deterrence. This is a point that should not be forgotten. It is important that the belligerents on all sides recognise there is a system in place for the safe collation and preservation of data and evidence. Into the future, they also should recognise that the chances of being prosecuted for war crimes as a result of their actions are increasing by the day. That is a important point to make from a deterrence point of view.

My last point is on justice for the victims. It is important that the European Union and Ireland in particular are as supportive as possible of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Minister of State mentioned in his opening statement that consideration is being given to seconding Irish experts to The Hague to support the International Criminal Court. I would be grateful were the Minister of State to elaborate on that during his closing remarks. How many people are we talking about and what kind of expertise would they have? When is a decision likely to be made?

To conclude, I am happy with the motion before the House and will be happy to support it later on this evening. I look forward to its swift implementation.

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