Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Okay.

This is my first opportunity to congratulate the Minster of State, Deputy Peter Burke, on his new role. I wish him well in a very important role for Ireland.

I mentioned that we will not provide military weapons to Ukraine. What they have asked for is critical infrastructure. I stated the Council has asked for mobile heating stations, power generators, power transformers and high-voltage lighting equipment. Are we mobilising that? Have we gone across State agencies? I saw some being provided by the ESB, but is there a coherent and strategic plan to respond to the cry for help for a nation that is now being battered by Russian bombardment? I refer to infrastructure to provide light and heat as there are still many months of Ukraine winter for the people to face. What are we doing about that?

To follow up on Deputy Brady's question, the conclusions of the Council stated that the member states should intensive contingency planning for displaced persons. That is what we signed-up for. In terms of our contingency planning for the next 12 months, what number of additional refugees is it based on? The Minister of State said it is hard to gauge but the Government is putting infrastructure in place for some number. What is that, and what specifically are the contingency plans the Government has?

Third, I mentioned that the Council asked the high representative and the Commission to examine the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukrainian reconstruction. That is a splendid idea. There are tens of billions of euro of Russian assets frozen. Is it legal to sequester them and deploy them to undo the damage that Russian bombardment of Ukraine has currently unleashed on the people of Ukraine?

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