Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I understand it, the recent European Council meeting was dedicated to mainly to Ukraine, energy and the economy. This was the seventh time since Russia began the war that EU leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine, which gives a clear indicator of the importance of this topic and the effect this war has had on all of Europe. However, I fear that due to the constant focus on Russia, the EU is failing to address other issues adequately. For example, I note that at the Council meeting, EU leaders reiterated that Russia bears the sole responsibility for the current energy and economic crisis. This is simply not true. Energy prices were increasing significantly before any Russian invasion. The Government knows that too. There is no doubt the war in Ukraine has exacerbated and added to the difficulties but it is not the sole cause. Prices and everything else have increased significantly because of that.

We know and I believe this energy and cost-of-living crisis is largely the fault of corporate profits. Big oil and energy companies have doubled and tripled their profits this year, making eye-watering money. The more we point the finger at Russia, the more corporate greed is being allowed and facilitated. We need to be honest about where this energy crisis is coming from and what exactly it is we have to do to address it.

Again, this meeting raised concerns for me regarding Ireland’s neutrality. We need to ensure our neutrality is not being compromised when discussions such as these take place. The Taoiseach's contribution to the debate showed that our neutrality in his eyes is long compromised and long gone by the looks of it.

He stated, "Wherever it turns out the missile concerned originated, Russia is wholly responsible for the consequences of an illegal war that it launched and is continuing to prosecute against Ukraine." Russia is responsible for the war but since we do not know what happened in the incident, we should be very careful about laying blame. Something could happen that we will regret.

The Taoiseach also stated:

The European Council also discussed how to ensure the security of critical infrastructure. Since the start of the war, we have seen an increase in the use of hybrid attacks, including deliberate acts of sabotage such as those against the Nord Stream pipelines.

As far as I know, we do not know for definite who carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines. It has been presented that it was Russia but that does not seem to make any sense. Comments have been made to the effect that it could have been Americans carrying out dirty tricks. We do not actually know. We have to be very careful about what we say about this so we will not inflame things more than necessary. We are putting in jeopardy our own neutrality, which is very serious.

We must remember that standing with Ukraine and continuing to maintain our neutrality are not mutually exclusive. We can do both. We can maintain what has been a very honourable role for Ireland in global affairs. We have a role that can be regarded as significant and important. In the European Union, Ireland may be the only neutral country at this stage. Maybe Austria is neutral also. Sweden and Finland have rushed to join NATO in recent months. I do not see how that will protect them in the long run. NATO, whether we or the EU wants to admit it or not, did a lot to foster and drive this war. There is no excuse for Russia invading Ukraine-----

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