Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on whether we should transpose an EU directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of restrictive measures into Irish law. I am happy to support the motion for a number of reasons. I am, in principle, in favour of sanctions as an alternative to violence, provided those sanctions are targeted not at the ordinary people in these countries but rather regimes, palaces, oligarchs and senior decision-makers.

An integral part of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy is that it can safeguard and promote EU values abroad. These are universal human rights, not just western human rights, and involve equality, the rule of law, democracy and all of the rights in that family. The Russian and Belarusian situation at the moment is a classic example. Of course the sanctions are not perfect, but are they depriving Russia and Putin's war machine of resources, funding and technology? They absolutely are. Are they the sole answer? Of course not, but they are making a positive difference.

My concern is very similar to that of the EU, namely that there are very easy methods of circumvention. The whole idea of the directive is to tidy and tighten up the inconsistent application whereby some countries regard breaches of violations of the sanctions as merely administrative, rather than criminal, issues.

I welcome the recent establishment of the EU task force on freeze and seize, which involves the confiscation of assets. The Minister of State mentioned that €1.8 billion of Russian and Russian associated assets have been seized in this jurisdiction. Perhaps he could indicate in his concluding remarks whether the Government has a plan for that money. A lot of countries are considering not just freezing but also seizing assets and keeping the money in an escrow account for the redevelopment and reconstruction of Ukraine post conflict.

The objectives of the directive are straightforward. First, it harmonises the approach, for which there is a sound legal basis, improves and fosters cross-border co-operation and prevents the aiding and abetting of people circumventing the sanctions regime. I welcome the motion. I am in favour of transposing the directive into Irish law. I ask the Minister of State to comment on the question of seizing or freezing the €1.8 billion to which I referred.

See this speech in context