Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on Putin’s unnecessary and highly illegal war in Ukraine. Again, on behalf of the Regional Group, we wish we were not marking this grisly anniversary but we are here nonetheless. Unfortunately, that is just the way things are.

I have a few points to make. The first is that I welcome, in general, Ireland’s response to the crisis. First of all, the €77 million which has been pledged to the European Peace Facility is appropriate. I recognise that much of this has not been drawn down there but has actually been pledged over a six-year period. It is appropriate, however, that financial assistance has been given for non-lethal aid to Ukraine.

The second thing I welcome is the provision of body armour, helmets and ration packs, which were given at the very start of the conflict almost a year ago.

Third, I mention the extraordinary generosity of the Irish people in respect of the accommodation of up to 70,000 displaced Ukrainians here.

It is an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe that has not been visited on Ireland since the State was formed more than 100 years ago. I welcome the fact that Ireland has been very vocal in supporting EU sanctions against the Russian Federation, especially the administration in the Kremlin, that is, the regime there, and that we are supporting the accession of Ukraine and Moldova into the European Union. That is completely appropriate. If they wish to lean westward and be embraced by the European Union, they should be facilitated in doing so.

The second point I wish to raise is about some positive soundings on the international front of which many people may not be aware. The first one is with regard to the Black Sea grain initiative that was negotiated by Turkey and the United Nations. More than 1,000 freighters are leaving Ukrainian ports every week, passing up the Bosphorus Strait, through Istanbul, and on to the rest of the world. One of the first ships to pass through the Bosphorus Strait with this initiative was mobile for Ireland, which is a particular point of note. The initiative saved millions of lives globally and saved hundreds of millions of people from malnutrition. It has to be extended and supported.

Prisoner exchanges that are going on directly between Ukrainian armed forces and the Russian Federation are a positive development. They are happening every month or so, without any intermediary. It proves that peace negotiations are possible when the conditions are right.

I welcome President Zelenskyy's ten-point peace plan. Is it perfect? It is not. Is it a basis for a peaceful solution? Yes, it is. Obviously, the conditions are not appropriate for peaceful negotiations at present, because Putin has absolutely no interest in peace negotiations, but it is the basis nonetheless.

My third point is with regard to the concerns I have about Moldova. Anybody who has been following international headlines realises considerable deliberate destabilising is taking place in Moldova at present. If this conflict is to widen, and we hope it will not, it is likely to widen in the direction of Moldova. It needs more support. We know there are 1,500 Russian troops in Transnistria, a province in Moldova. I welcome the fact that Ireland has given €5 million in support to Moldova, but it needs more, for sure. Moldova is half the size and has half the population of Ireland and has ten times the number of Ukrainian displaced people. It is accommodating 700,000 Ukrainian displaced people at present. Moldova needs our support and is very worthy of it.

Can Ireland do more? I think we can. We should be vocal on the establishment of a brand new special tribunal on war crimes in Ukraine. That should help from an accountability point of view. We know that Ireland has frozen approximately €1.5 billion in Russian assets in this jurisdiction. Freezing them is not enough. We should be seizing them as well and putting it into an escrow account to facilitate the reconstruction of Ukraine, at the end. We should be more supportive of Moldova. It is a very similar country to us. It is trying to get into the European Union and that is a point of destabilisation from a Russian perspective. I have no doubt that Moldova is a Russian target from that point of view.

I welcome the motion. I am very happy to support it and any reasonable amendments. I will be in the GPO on Friday at 2.30 p.m. to mark the grizzly and tragic anniversary that it is. I invite the Irish public to come along to show its support.

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