Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

Ukraine is a top priority. I told ambassador Gerasko that was the case. I had an article published in the Irish Examiner this week reflecting on my visit there. I certainly encourage Members of the Oireachtas to visit Ukraine if it is safe to do so. It is never 100% safe, but it should be organised at an Oireachtas level. On my impression of the situation in Ukraine, what really struck home to me was the lack of sleep people are having. We are not trying to compare different situations. Each situation is different, but the situation in Ukraine is a top priority. We are to the fore in supporting Ukraine at various levels. Recently we also signed onto what is called a non-paper supporting qualified majority voting at the intermediate steps in the accession process, not at the start or at the end, which is always subject to unanimity and the veto. At the intermediate steps we have supported removing unanimity because some countries, particularly Hungary, are using that to block progress.

On the Shtandart, the Department of Transport became aware of this on Sunday night. The ship would be required to submit a pre-arrival notice. This did not happen. There are restrictions on vessels of this type under EU restrictive measures. The operators would be well aware of this. It may be that they are looking to get a formal response from the authorities. I do not know. The ship has moved. There are derogations from the sanctions. There was no application for derogations. The EU's restrictive measures allow for the refusal of access. The vessel changed its registration from Russia to the Cook Islands in June 2024. The Department has reminded harbourmasters this week of their responsibilities under the EU restrictive measures. Apparently, this vessel has gone to Clogherhead. It has not received any permission to enter Clogherhead port. We think it left Irish waters this morning and we are looking for a report from Louth County Council. That is simply the information I have, and I cannot speak specifically about that vessel. However, there have been other occasions when we have seen hybrid measures by Russia involving this type of activity, designed to confuse and cause chaos, but usually designed to confuse, upset the local system and annoy people. There are various ranges to that but let us see what the outcome is.

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