Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This motion is so important because if history has taught us one thing, it is that war crimes can be dealt with many years after they have been committed. However, the evidence and data that must be collected, collated and kept, in order to deal with these atrocities are important. That is why Eurojust is doing such important work. It also co-operates with the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

National authorities are collecting evidence of the international crimes that may have been committed in Ukraine. Due to the ongoing hostilities, evidence cannot be stored securely in Ukraine, requiring that a backup storage place be urgently secured by the European Union. Thus, in order to co-ordinate efforts that are currently being deployed by member states to collect evidence, it is necessary to set up quickly a central storage, where evidence that is collected by European Union agencies and bodies, as well as by national and international authorities or third parties such as civil society organisations, can be stored.

However, while the Eurojust regulations provide for its support for member states' actions in investigating and prosecuting serious crimes, they do not explicitly allow Eurojust to collect, preserve and analyse such evidence relating to this purpose. I do not want to eat into my colleagues' time so I will stop at that.

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