Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ireland welcomed the agreement reached at EU level in February to set aside the revenue generated from Russia's immobilised sovereign assets to support Ukraine. The windfall revenues earned and generated from the assets that are immobilised at the moment will be used to support Ukraine. Our view is that when a country like Russia illegally invades another country and destroys its infrastructure, it cannot be left to the rest of Europe and those who abide by the UN Charter to reconstruct. When we look at various wars in recent times, we see this phenomenon of levelling entire cities. We have seen it in Syria, with the levelling of Aleppo, for example. Entire communities and towns are just levelled. We see it in Gaza and we have seen it in Ukraine. There has to be accountability and the use of the immobilised assets is one avenue. We are actively engaged in discussions on how the revenue can be transferred and used to aid Ukraine. The latest proposal provides that 90% of the available net revenue would be channelled through the European Peace Facility, while 10% would be channelled through the EU budget. It is important to co-ordinate with international partners, including the G7, to give careful consideration to applicable laws and to take into account the views of the ECB. The latter has concerns about the euro. My view is that the level of destruction is such that Russia has to pay for some of this.

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