Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Since the start of Russia's war, the EU and its member states have made around €67 billion available to Ukraine and its people. We have provided €17 billion in supports for refugees, €37.8 billion in economic assistance and €12 billion in military support. I was delighted to see that €56 million tonnes of goods were exported from Ukraine thanks to the solidarity lanes, of which 29 million tonnes was cereal. However, I would like to know where we are in the prosecution of Russia, in nuclear security and safety, and in countering Russian disinformation. We send our people to these meetings and we have MEPs in Europe but we need progress and reports. How long more can we, as a nation, sustain this and how safe are we?

As I said, we are the best country in the world for supporting people and I agree with all the supports that are in place but when it comes to supporting our farming industry and other industries at home, all we do is put the income tax back on fuel coming up to the time of harvesting. This will come back when people are trying to get back on their feet and feed their families and we will put taxes back on fuel. I cannot say how much we do for other people but our Government turns around and decides to put taxes like this back in place, even though it is up 34% in revenue from fuel. Despite this, the Government has still decided to put the tax back on fuel. We have a 9% VAT rate for the hotel industry and that is a good measure because it protects jobs and stops the inflation of food prices. The Government would want to wake up a small bit, think of home and think of what it is doing when it implements the increase in fuel prices. It will put this country into poverty and this country is the best one in the world for providing and caring for other people.

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