Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am 100% in agreement with the Deputy on Putin. Appeasement has failed. I understand why sometimes people promote appeasement but just as it failed in the 1930s and 1940s, it has failed here. Russia was allowed to control part of Moldova, then it was allowed to invade Georgia and control part of Georgia, then it was allowed to take Crimea. The West did not act sufficiently, nor did the wider international community. As a result of that, Putin felt he had the green light to invade eastern and southern Ukraine and that is what he has done. He will only stop where we stop him. That is why we need to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, and we will.

I remember the exchange Deputy Berry and I had about a year ago. All the intelligence was telling us that Putin was going to invade Ukraine. I had hoped the intelligence was wrong. The British and Americans have got their intelligence wrong in the past and I had hoped they were wrong on this occasion but they were not. They were spot on. The invasion began after the Olympic Games in February. Since then we have been updating and renewing our plans to deal with potential threats. We believe that a nuclear or radiological emergency is highly unlikely. I want to reassure the public and the House that we believe it is highly unlikely and even if it does happen, it is unlikely to have serious consequences for us. We have made contingency plans for it. In fact a training exercise was held in September to test the nation's response to a nuclear emergency. It took place in the National Emergency Co-ordination Centre, not too far from here, where we practised the systems and procedures outlined in the national plan for nuclear and radiological emergency exposures, to ensure that the Government and State agencies are prepared to manage the response effectively to a range of potential scenarios. The national plan details Ireland's planning and preparedness for a national response to a major nuclear emergency. It sets out the trigger points for the plan to be invoked. It includes notifications to Irish authorities of nuclear or radiological emergencies abroad. While this event is highly improbable, the Government is aware of the impact that it could have on Irish society, businesses and the economy. It is a statutory requirement that nuclear emergency exercises are organised by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. The previous such exercise, prior to the one in September, happened in 2017. Such exercises are part of regular and prudent Government planning for national emergencies and follow on from exercises also held a few months ago to test a hypothetical response to a disruption in our energy supplies.

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