Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Members should make no mistake; we are now living in a different world. The vote in the UN this week and the sidelining of both Ukraine and our EU allies in the talks in Saudi Arabia have put a definitive end to the idea that history ended with the downfall of the Soviet Union. The world has changed and we should not ignore that. America's pivot to Asia flagged that guaranteeing common European security was no longer the priority it might once have been. This is being exacerbated by the current US Administration, which has caused an existential crisis within the EU in recent weeks. While I accept that the current administration has not yet given up on Europe, as Europeans, we must evaluate all options in the best security interests of the EU, its expansion, and Ireland's economic interest within it, through securing the Single Market from aggressive expansionist states to our east.

In the absence of the US security backstop, many commentators are suggesting Europe's soft power may need to be complemented by a harder power dimension, regardless of how that affects Irish neutrality. We must think through how that might play in regard to our neutrality and to our interests in the world, and that of our EU partners. If that is the road Europe chooses to go down on common defence, be it in support of Ukraine or to defend the integrity of the Single Market, we are looking at a large step towards European integration. As no single member state can shoulder the cost of such integration we will have to look at the likes of eurobonds and that will probably have a knock-on effect on EU fiscal policy, which will affect this country.

As a country, we must figure out who our reliable allies are and who are not, and what is in our interests and what is not. Anyone who thinks we can go back to the old normal is ignoring the fact that geostrategic alignments are changing rapidly. We cannot wait another four years for the next incumbent of Pennsylvania Avenue to be more accommodating to the Irish cause and the Ukrainian cause.

The EU was forged in crisis. I commend Ukrainians on their progress towards EU membership. Only by working together as allies can we return to some semblance of the rule-based order under which Ireland has flourished so successfully economically and tackle the big issues of the day. We are faced with scenarios now that were unthinkable at Christmas, all of which will be costly, be they paying the additional cost of aiding Ukraine, to continuing the fight for independence or fulfilling the objectives of the Treaty of Rome. While we will always stand in solidarity with Ukraine, these scenarios must be considered carefully in this House.

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