Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

Today, I and other members of the Ukraine parliamentary friendship group met with the ambassador, H.E. Larysa Gerasko. One of the concerns she expressed was that she has heard that Ukraine is no longer a priority for Ireland. I have never heard any such statement from any member of my party, of the Minister of State's party or of Government. Will the Minister confirm that Ukraine remains a priority for Ireland as regards the aid and support we can give to help Ukraine resist the Russian invasion?

Following on from that, I ask the Minister of State about the ship, the Shtandart, that was anchored off the coast of my constituency in Killiney Bay this week. It sailed under a Russian flag at the time of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, subsequently took on the flag of the Cook Islands and is now claiming it is not a Russian ship. Can the Minister of State confirm that it is in fact a Russian ship for the purposes of sanctions?

It is not allowed to dock in Irish ports. It has now left Irish waters, but not before it forced itself into Clogherhead in County Louth to resupply, as I understand it, under a false description of an emergency it had had.

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