Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 and 140 together. I thank Deputies Lahart, O'Meara and Ardagh for the questions.

Russia has to be held accountable for its action. In my view, Ireland's view and the view of the Government, Russia needs to pay for the destruction that it has brought and is sadly still bringing about by its illegal brutal war in Ukraine. As a result of extensive sanction measures, in particular the Ukraine territorial integrity sanctions regime, the private financial assets of more than 2,500 individuals and entities have been frozen across the European Union. As the Deputy indicated, around €1.84 billion of these assets are frozen in Irish institutions. These are assets of listed individuals and entities that are frozen under the sanctions regime. The asset freeze is temporary and does not involve the seizure of the asset in question. Separately, under another Russian sanctions regime concerned with sectoral measures, over €200 billion of sovereign Russian assets, including those of the Central Bank of Russia, have been immobilised within the EU. This measure prohibits any dealings with such assets. No such sovereign Russian assets are held in our country.

The extraordinary revenue generated from these immobilised sovereign assets has been used to service an EU-G7 loan to Ukraine. To date, Ukraine has received €14 billion from the EU under this mechanism and €25 billion in total. Ukraine's funding needs are enormous. We should be honest and upfront on this. It is more important than ever that we bolster support for Ukraine across all work strands, both to help Ukraine as it fights Russia's illegal war of aggression but also to project a focused and unified European Union.

Our country is supportive of exploring options for the further use of the immobilised Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine. However, it has to be done in line with applicable laws and in careful co-ordination with international partners. Discussions are under way on options to do this. I was part of some yesterday in Luxembourg. EU leaders held an exchange on the issue during their informal meeting in Copenhagen at the start of this month and an outline proposal has been shared. Yesterday, I reiterated Ireland's support for maintaining pressure on Russia by quickly reaching agreement on the 19th sanctions package. I also reiterated that Ireland is supportive of exploring options for the further use of Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine. It is expected that European leaders, including our Taoiseach, will return to this discussion in the coming days at the European Council.

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