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

I will put some numbers on the record to clarify the assistance on a bilateral basis that we have provided.

Ireland has provided in-kind assistance of approximately 10 tonnes or 5,000 units of ready-to-eat meals as well as 200 units of body armour, which were shipped earlier this year from Defence Forces stock to Ukraine. Our focus has very much been on non-lethal equipment to help Ukrainian soldiers to defend themselves and feed themselves. That assistance has been positively received in Ukraine. There is an understanding of our principled position of not providing lethal weapons into conflict zones. For a start we do not have many of them but many other European countries are willing to fund that kind of equipment. We have a different role to play, even though we are playing our full part through the financial contribution but it is very much focused on the non-lethal side.

We have an industry in Ireland; it is not an arms industry. We do not export arms but we have companies that have developed capacity that can be used in military circumstances. I do not think there is anything wrong with that.

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