Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the matter of Ukraine. I concur with the Taoiseach's comments of last Friday that Putin will stop where we choose to stop him. That is entirely true. I wish that, in 2014, when he invaded Crimea and half of Donbas, the international community, including Ireland, had been more robust and assertive in stopping him.

The appeasement he got eight years ago has brought us to the position we are in at the moment. I recall on 10 February last year on Leaders' Questions the Taoiseach and I had an exchange where we said there was an 80% likelihood that Russia would invade once the Chinese Olympic Games were over two weeks later, and it did. Crucially, we said that Ireland should use the time wisely to enhance our cyber security and energy security and to increase our ability to deal with a large influx of refugees, which unfortunately happened as well.

Unfortunately, it is time to have another similar conversation. There is now about an 80% likelihood of Ukraine launching a major counteroffensive in the next two to three weeks, likely targeting Crimea. They are entitled to do so under the UN Charter under the self-defence clause. My concern from Ireland's point of view is that a lot of the heavy fighting will most likely happen around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. It is the largest nuclear facility in Europe, it has six reactors and it has already suffered a lot of damage from a conventional point of view. The concern is that there might be a leak, either inadvertent or due to damage. We should use this time wisely between now and the start of the Ukrainian offensive at least to review our radiological monitoring service in this country to make sure it is fit for purpose. I would be grateful if the Taoiseach could update the House on what the plan is if there is a radiological incident, and whether we intend to upgrade our capabilities in the short term. This is not designed to frighten or scare anybody. On the contrary, it is an opportunity to provide reassurance and make sure that our systems are fit for purpose.

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