Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The first point I make is that we are in unprecedented times and the world is not in a good place. There is a terrible, immoral and illegal war being waged on the people of Ukraine by President Putin and by Russia, which is causing untold killing and untold damage to energy infrastructure. It has weaponised food and migration and it is causing huge uncertainty across the Continent of Europe and across the world in terms of economic development. The most fundamental outcome of the war is that so many young people are losing their lives on the front. It is quite shocking in the modern era that we are witnessing a humanitarian disaster on a scale that has not been seen since the Second World War on the Continent of Europe.

Since last October, the Russians have been targeting critical energy infrastructure and water facilities. Millions of homes in Ukraine are experiencing power outages. Supply of electricity to Moldova has been affected. That is the context in which we are having this discussion. It is terrible and the result has been millions and millions of Ukrainians have left their country. Ireland has welcomed and taken in Ukrainians, along with other European members states as part of the European temporary protection directive. We have directly housed 47,000 people who are fleeing the brutal war but the State as a whole in terms of private accommodation and so on about 65,000 refugees from Ukraine and from the rest of the world have been housed directly by the State. That includes international protection. That is not easy. It is unprecedented and it is challenging. We have never before had to deal with numbers of that kind or in that volume. On the Ukrainian situation, the vast majority of people have been mothers and children. Many communities across the country and many people have opened up and welcomed Ukrainians in, given the circumstances from which they are fleeing; they are leaving family behind.

It certainly creates huge pressures on our services. In my view, however, in a wartime situation like this, there is no choice here. We have to work with other European countries in respect of this. The most effective thing would be if Putin called off this war and if he stopped it. At the moment, they are trying to freeze and starve people. It is quite shocking what is going on. It is a premeditated attack on people and the basic necessities of life. In my view, it constitutes a war crime.

On the issue of international protection, the numbers have gone up significantly-----

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