Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputy Flaherty.

I look forward to the European Council meeting next week and I am grateful, in expectation, for the Minister of State reply to this round of statements. As much as these discussions every month change, they also stay the same. That is why I probably will ask for a similar update to those I have sought in other weeks, as other Deputies have.

The issue of concern for me relates to the supposed Hungarian veto of the aid package agreed by other EU member states for Ukraine. This is extremely worrying.

It has been one of a litany of worrying movesby the Hungarian Government. This has been the case when it comes to rule of law in its own country for close to a decade at this stage. In recent months in particular, it has included Russia's brutal war in Ukraine and the response in support of the Ukrainian people and EU funding more generally. This is with regard to EU funding going externally to assist the people of Ukraine who are being savaged by Putin's war machine, as opposed to EU funding going internally to the people of Hungary to help them deal with so many issues that are arising. It is the political decision of what is an increasingly odious regime to stand in the way of respite for its own people as well as the people of Ukraine.

My question, and perhaps the Minister of State can touch on it in his response, is what are the other 26 member states going to do? How will they be able to push in a way and in a manner that, most importantly, continues to support the Ukrainian people and ensure the values and principles of the European Union are maintained? This is not the first time we have spoken about other Article 15 issues and not only against Hungary. We speak about Poland and the very clear changes that were made domestically there in response to the collective pressure of the European Union. It is a rules-based organisation and those rules need to be respected internally and given attention by member states.

Another area for the agenda for the meeting next week is, of course, continuing discussions on collective security and defence. This can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. It is something from which Ireland cannot simply walk away. We have a responsibility and, most importantly, a vested interest in the continuing security of the European Union in its entirety. This is crucial in terms of our own jurisdiction and the island as a whole, be it with regard to cybersecurity, aerospace or maritime activity.

With regard to EU training missions for Ukrainian forces, has any further decision been made on Irish Defence Forces activity or participation in training missions that obviously would not breach any notion of military neutrality? I was struck by an image circulating on social media today of a Ukrainian truck that was blown up by a land mine. The truck was being driven by two members of the Ukrainian defence forces who sadly lost their lives. They were killed by a landmine planted by Russian soldiers. It was a bread truck. They were delivering bread to starving people and it was blown up by a landmine. It is the very type of landmine our Defence Forces have a particular skill and expertise in identifying and clearing. They could train people to identify and clear landmines so that civilian actors, be they individuals or people delivering bread to starving children, can be helped. I ask that every effort be made so we contribute progressively to the training mission to deal with instances such as this.

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