Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not given to hyperbole or to exaggeration. I repeat my horror at what is happening in a neutral country. The Tánaiste shaking his head does not help the situation. Deputy Bríd Smith already mentioned the horror related to what Israel is doing in Palestine and we have really stood idly by, other than expressing our deep concern.

I will give some figures from the European fact sheet entitled EU Solidarity with Ukraine. As of September 2023, the EU and its members individually had provided approximately €25 billion in support of Ukraine, including €5.6 billion under the European Peace Facility. This is the misplaced and misnamed European Peace Facility. The total budget for that facility was €5.6 billion. It has gone way over that now with its allocation to Ukraine alone. In 30 seconds, I cannot go through the figures but that is what we are left to do; go through the figures while the Tánaiste tells us this does nothing to our neutrality. I am 100% behind giving humanitarian aid but I am also behind using our voice to bring peace and to have a peaceful settlement at some stage, which will happen, as in every war. In the meantime, we chose one country over another even though we are a neutral country. I mention Palestine. Yemen has been mentioned and so on.

See this speech in context