Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)

I join both the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, in commending the people of Ukraine on their brave defence of their homeland and, equally, to utterly condemn Russia for its brutal and illegal war. Let there be no equivocation: there is one single aggressor and one sole reason for this brutal conflict, which is the madness of the dictatorship of Vladimir Putin that is driving this war. It is a war that is having an extremely material impact on every home, every household and every family that we represent in Dáil Éireann, in Ireland, but equally in so many homes, households and livelihoods across Europe and, most perversely, in the poorest countries of the world, which rely on the energy and food that would ordinarily come from Ukraine, but of course we see energy and food being used as weapons of war by the Russian war machine.

Let it not be lost on us that we are also seeing increasing activities of hybrid warfare emanating from Russia, as alluded to by the Minister of State, which is having a direct impact. That can be drones flying over European territory, criminal hacking of European systems or the sheer amount of disinformation being added to our political discourse here in Ireland and across the European Union. The Taoiseach and I both find ourselves on Russian sanctions lists, a deliberate act of provocation by the Russian embassy, located, sadly, in my constituency. That is why it is imperative that this brutal war be ended as soon as possible on terms that are true to what Ukraine stands for, in protecting its sovereign territory and independence, recognising the importance of the UN Charter and making sure that it dissuades those who see Russia's actions as being viable options for their own nationalistic goals or indeed encouraging Russia. If it is allowed to run amok continuously across Ukraine, where is next?

We must note that there has been tangible, real Irish support to the people of Ukraine, as alluded to by both the Taoiseach and Minister of State. People have opened their homes and communities to more than 118,000 Ukrainians since this outbreak of this iteration of the war. There has been very real humanitarian support and real, clear support from this Government for non-lethal efforts. I question anyone who says that the provision of training to de-mine Ukraine to stop women and children from being blown up in Ukraine by Russian mines. I question anyone who says that those are things that we should not be supporting. There is a peaceful future for the people of Ukraine and it must be a future that we in Ireland support through our absolute support, as the Taoiseach alluded to, for making sure that Ukraine has a speedy accession to the European Union.

See this speech in context