Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to contribute and make a few comments on the readout from the most recent European Council meeting at the end of October in Brussels. I am just going to focus my comments on two main areas. The first is Ukraine and the second is the Middle East.

From a Ukrainian point of view, I am sure the Minister of State is probably aware that only in the past couple of hours, the European Commission has recommended that accession talks begin between Ukraine and the EU before the end of the year. That must go to the European Council for a final decision in December. I very much welcome the announcement by the Commission in recent hours.

I was recently in Ukraine for about a week and there is definitely a leaning towards the west from an economic point of view, a societal point of view and a cultural point of view. It is quite similar to the journey Ireland itself took in the late 1960s and the early 1970s before we joined the Union. I am glad that Ireland is adopting a very facilitative and supportive position from that point of view.

On my recent trip, I came across some information that I was not expecting. A considerable amount of thinking in Ukraine at the moment is that they are trying to get their people back to Ukraine. We spoke to members of parliament and even President Zelenskyy's policy is that he wants people to return, in particular doctors, nurses and teachers, to contribute to Ukrainian society. They are of the view that, on average, there is a net return pretty much every week now. While Ireland was 100% right in bringing in and facilitating Ukrainian refugees 18 months ago, it is probably timely now to tweak the approach, look at the support package that is available and to incentivise people to return rather than to incentivise people to stay, where that is appropriate.

The members of parliament with whom we discussed it with said it is very understandable for someone from the Donbas, Mariupol or Crimea, who have no place left to live, to move to the European Union by all means. However, there are people from Lviv and Kyiv who could certainly return if it is safe to do so.

I am not sure if the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, has been to Ukraine yet. Perhaps if he visited himself, and maybe had a discussion with his opposite number there, he might get a full understanding their objectives are from a resettlement point of view.

I fully accept that there is not unanimity in the Chamber with regard to this at all but the air defence umbrella around Kyiv at the moment is very good. Approximately 95% of projectiles are shot down. These could be drones, missiles, completely non-lethal and completely uncrewed vessels and vehicles. I recognise that the Taoiseach said earlier during this debate that €122 million is being provided by Ireland in non-lethal support through the European Peace Facility. My question is: should we consider including air defence in that? Radars are passive, and any equipment we provide is being used to shoot down inanimate objects. One cannot kill something that is not alive, and that is something we should certainly consider if we are looking to expand the support we can provide.

On the Middle East, I share the Chamber's concerns about the mounting death toll in the Middle East, and in Gaza in particular. I agree with the calls that have been made, particularly from a Hamas perspective. The hostages should be released. One issue that is not really mentioned is that Hamas should be called on to move their military stocks and equipment and their militants out of civilian areas, which in itself is a breach of humanitarian law, and obviously to stop firing missiles at Israel. From the Israeli perspective, obviously a ceasefire is vitally important, and as soon as possible, as is humanitarian access via a humanitarian corridor, and a stop to the bombing of civilian targets. It seems like a very straightforward proposal. I agree with the Taoiseach. I do not see either belligerent having any appetite for a ceasefire at the moment. If Israel unilaterally implemented a ceasefire, I suspect the rockets will continue to fly from Gaza. Similarly, if Hamas stopped firing rockets, I suspect the Israeli onslaught would continue as well.

It is on that note that I want to emphasise that I am very much in favour of the Israeli ambassador staying in Dublin and our ambassador staying in Tel Aviv. Diplomacy is needed at all times but particularly in times of conflict. The obvious question is what good are diplomats if, when they are needed most, we decide to expel them. I am very much in favour of keeping diplomatic channels open, particularly in this time of crisis.

In summary, I welcome the readout from the most recent European Council meeting, and I look forward to the next one in December. I hope that the Council will approve the recommendation of the Commission that accession talks between the EU and Ukraine should begin as soon as possible.

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