Dáil debates

Tuesday, 21 June 2022

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements

 

5:40 pm

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

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate in an important week. There are only two points to which I would like to refer ahead of the European Council. The first is in relation to Russia's ongoing brutal war in Ukraine and the very welcome news that the European Commission has recommended candidate status not just for Ukraine but also for Moldova and Georgia. The Joint Committee on European Union Affairs is currently in Georgia, having previously visited Moldova a number of weeks ago under its Chairman, Deputy Joe McHugh. We must ask ourselves what candidate status, which the European Council will approve this week, entails.

We are very good at showing demonstrable signs of solidarity, understandably, with the Ukrainian people. Every night, the Houses of the Oireachtas are lit up brightly in the Ukrainian colours and we are flying their flag. We have contributed to Red Cross fundraisers. The European Union has responded with six packages of sanctions as well as providing financial and lethal aid. Although I state my regret that Ireland is not part of the complete EU support for Ukraine, this is a situation where we need to be practical about who our allies are because, to be absolutely clear, Ukraine is fighting for all of Europe at the moment. Unfortunately, there is a danger that too many people in the west are simply becoming tired of the war in Ukraine and they are not paying attention to the absolutely savage fighting and continuous atrocities that are still being committed by Russian troops in parts of Ukraine. Kyiv may no longer be under siege but parts of Ukraine are going through nine rounds of hell at the moment. We cannot take a backward step. Therefore, I will go back to my point about the tangible impact of candidate status for Ukraine. We know Ukraine's aspiration to join the EU is not a new step, and there have been roadblocks in the way in terms of the rule of law and governance issues but, crucially in terms of finances and also the important reconstruction of the country, what is being called at a European level a Marshall plan for Ukraine, is something on which we need to take action now rather than it being planned to happen in a couple of years' time. As the Secretary General of NATO said this week, unfortunately, this war is going to be with us for quite some time. If we look at the approximately €36 billion of Russian assets that have been frozen by European Union member states, including just under €1 billion in Ireland, these now need to be seized and ploughed back into Ukraine. The ill-gotten bounty of Russian corruption and warmongering needs to be taken from the Russian leadership and the oligarchs and stooges who surround Putin who tried to hide their money around the world and ploughed back into rebuilding Ukraine's roads, schools, livelihoods and homes that are being robbed from the innocent Ukrainian people.

We talk about the six rounds of sanctions. Let us be frank: they are simply not enough. If they were enough - at this stage we are more than 100 days since the outbreak of this latest iteration of the conflict - the Russian regime would be close to collapsing, but it is not because it has so many outs. We can see how Russian oligarchs have been able to move their money away from London, Paris, Dublin, Brussels and wherever else, to other outposts of the world that are simply not taking the same approach to Vladimir Putin and his despotic regime's invasion of Ukraine that right-thinking countries in the EU, the UK, the United States, Japan, Australia, Norway and elsewhere are taking. That is why it is absolutely crucial that, following the European Council, the European Union starts to apply pressure as a global leader. The European Union is a global leader when it comes to the economy, democracy, values and socially, but one could ask what we are looking for from our partners. The countries around the world which have very lucrative trade deals, partnerships and so much else with the European Union rely on this partnership in so many areas, yet they see no problem facilitating Vladimir Putin, his oligarchs and his regime's ability to get around European sanctions through their countries and banks. That is something on which the EU must start to show its teeth. We cannot simply rely on the United States to put in huge amounts of money if the EU, which has the power to do this, is not prepared to look at other countries, be it the United Arab Emirates, India and say their continuing ability to facilitate the Russian regime is simply not acceptable.

One issue that should be on the European Council agenda, but will probably only be referred to in the margin notes, as opposed to as a stand-alone issue, is the fact that once again we see the British Government acting deplorably when it comes to its international commitments and agreements, signed not very long ago with the European Union. The trade and co-operation agreement that is so important to Ireland economically in terms of ensuring that our exporters have continuing access to the UK, but equally that so many people can continue to bring in goods from the UK without the burden of tariffs or quotas, is under threat due to the United Kingdom's inability to meet its commitments in the protocol. When I say "meet its commitments" I am not talking about the rigorous implementation trope that is thrown back at European and Irish leaders by certain unionist commentators, I am talking about the ability of the British Government to not just meet its commitments but to do so in terms of the engagement with the joint implementation committee of the withdrawal agreement. The fact that the British Foreign Secretary has withdrawn from the implementation committee since 24 February tells a sorry tale. The European Union, through Vice President Šefčovič, has presented a comprehensive set of proposals to address the accepted difficulties in the operation of the protocol but we have not seen anything in return from the British Government. Rather than engaging in the process, we have seen the British Foreign Secretary putting her own political ambition first, upping stumps and simply disengaging from the process. Again, rather than coming back with a comprehensive plan of acceptable solutions and an ability to work through the obvious problems identified by business leaders in Northern Ireland the British Government has simply put the wrecking ball through an international agreement. It is the British Government's continuing recklessness that is causing instability in Northern Ireland. The problem is not the protocol; it is Brexit. We have a British Government that has decided the solution to all the problems it has created with its nonsensical Brexit is to act unilaterally and to threaten to break international law.

It is using Northern Ireland as some sort of bargaining chip in the internal power play of Conservative Party politics and as a British Government distraction technique for the next time there is an awkward partygate scandal, or a fuss about rendition flights for refugees to Rwanda, appointments, potential by-election defeats, rail strikes and everything else. It is such a retrograde step that, to be honest, after six years, I am sick of talking about Brexit. We need to move on. Europe and Ireland need to move on but, most important, the people of Northern Ireland need to be given the chance to move on and enjoy some element of stability this British Government is failing to deliver.

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