Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can confirm that officials from my Department are still investigating the recovery of a number of items, ostensibly of Irish origin, from Ukraine. The investigations are still ongoing and are complex in nature. The components in question are in circulation in many jurisdictions and may have been resold a number of times before being acquired by bad actors. This has required multiple strands to be assessed, both from a technical and an international perspective, and we have worked with our EU and international partners, including Ukrainian officials, in this regard.

The high degree of complexity of the investigations and the wide web of stakeholders has taken time to bring these investigations towards a conclusion. I can assure the House that upon completion, my officials will take appropriate actions against any actor found to have breached any of the sanctions that are in place in terms of the sanction regimes now in the context of Russia and its actions in Ukraine.

Ireland remains steadfast in standing with the people of Ukraine and condemns Russia's unjustified and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine. The EU is responding to Russia's illegal actions with unity, firmness and determination. The EU has to date adopted 11 packages of sanctions in response to Russia's illegal and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine. These sanctions are broad-ranging and designed to degrade Russia's ability to continue its military aggression.

My Department has responsibility for the implementation of the trade measures in the sanctions package. The trade measures of these sanctions are sophisticated and targeted. For example, they prohibit the export of goods and technology from the EU to Russia that might contribute to Russia's military and technological enhancement or the development of its defence and security sectors.

My officials continue to engage with exporters across Ireland via outreach or by audits to remind them of their obligation to conduct due diligence so as to ensure that they do not either knowingly or unknowingly export items that are liable to end up in the hands of proliferators or those who are attempting to circumvent EU restrictive measures regarding Russia or, indeed, any other entity or country that is on a list of restrictive measures.

As the Deputy will be aware, the President recently signed the Control of Exports Act 2023 into law. The new legislation will continue to ensure that Ireland has a comprehensive and robust framework for regulating the export of controlled goods, principally dual-use and military items. The Act will mitigate the risk that controlled items could be exported from Ireland in breach of the regulations and used to cause injury in regional conflicts or to violate human rights in third countries. That was quite a long answer, but it is quite a complex issue.

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