Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will update the House because some questions have been asked in the media this morning about the remains of Rory Mason and also about Brian Maher, who was interviewed on "Morning Ireland" this morning.

Our consular teams and our team in the embassy in Kyiv are working with Ukrainian authorities to ensure Rory Mason's remains are brought home to his family as soon as possible. Separately, we are involved in a European medevac, effectively, to bring injured EU citizens out of Kyiv and get them home. We are working with Brian Maher on that and hopefully it will happen in the next day or so. I want to clarify that because there has been discussion in the media this morning on it. There is no crossover between the two issues. One is about repatriation of the remains of a young man and the other is a medevac system. They are two separate procedures.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the situation in Russia in consultation with the Embassy of Ireland in Moscow. The Department currently advises against all travel to Russia. The security status of our travel advice for Russia was raised to "Do not travel", the Department’s highest level of warning, on 28 February, after the war began. On 7 March, Irish citizens in Russia were advised to consider carefully their presence there and those who wished to leave were advised to do so as quickly as possible. On 7 April, two diplomats from the Embassy of Ireland were instructed to leave Russia. This has limited the ability of the embassy to provide services and assistance to Irish citizens in Russia.

In light of ongoing developments, the Department’s advice was further strengthened on 14 April, when Irish citizens in Russia were advised to consider carefully the necessity of their continued stay and to make plans to leave. Irish citizens in Russia are advised to be vigilant about their own safety and to avoid mass gatherings, including protests or demonstrations. Citizens should be aware that new laws that affect media freedom of expression can be used to impose severe and arbitrary sentences. Irish citizens should be mindful that this includes posting or sharing banned content on social media. We also recommend that Irish citizens should be mindful that increasingly severe limitations on banking, including the withdrawal of Visa and Mastercard services, may directly affect their ability to access their money for the foreseeable future.

Any Irish citizens remaining in Russia are recommended to register their details with the embassy in Moscow, and they can contact the embassy should they require assistance. The embassy currently has reduced capacity to provide support in crisis scenarios, particularly for citizens situated far from Moscow. The Department’s advice to citizens is clearly outlined on its travel advisory for Russia, along with information on current departure options from Russia should they want to leave.

See this speech in context