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

This is a horrific war. We may have seen up to 250,000 people killed already, and perhaps 200,000 of those have been military personnel on both sides. It is hard to know what the figure is in respect of civilian losses, but it could be anything between 40,000 and 60,000 people, or maybe more. This is horrific. We know the brutality with which civilians have been treated because we have, unfortunately, seen their corpses and mass graves. Many of these people were tortured and brutalised, some with their hands tied behind their backs. This is a horror show in the context of human suffering and this is why Ireland has taken such a clear view concerning this war and why we will continue to take a very clear view in respect of accountability for the war crimes that are likely to have taken place. We will continue to support Ukrainians who have had to flee. Here in Ireland, we now have about 63,000 or 64,000 refugees and this number will continue to grow. Through the European Peace Facility, EPF, we will continue to support the Ukrainian military to defend its people and country. We will also continue to increase the supports we provide from a humanitarian perspective to help the Ukrainian people, or as many as we can, through what is going to be a very difficult winter.

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