Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank colleagues from across the House who have united to support this motion. I am deeply appreciative that people have put their political differences aside and that we as a Chamber have come together around an issue that we hold dear, as has been well ventilated by all sides. There has been a recognition by all of the principles of democracy and that every country has a right to self-determination - to decide how to govern itself, elect its own leaders and make decisions on foreign policy and, equally, defence policy.

Ireland remains militarily neutral and we have not had any interest in joining any particular military alliance, but it is not for us to determine what any other democratic country might do. Neither is it for Russia or anyone else to decide what Ukraine, Finland, Sweden or any other country does in terms of its defensive policies. Being able to deal with its own business is something that should be open to every democratic country. The Ukrainian people have that right.

I am thankful to the Minister of State and the Government. Making a determination of genocide raises hackles in various Departments, with diplomatic flags going up and suggestions being made that perhaps this is not a decision we should be taking, but we must separate the politics from diplomacy and the justice system. There has rightly been an acceptance by politicians in this country generally that we do not stray into the decisions of courts. That is for a good reason, given that juries are sometimes influenced by what is said in the Houses. It has impacted on previous cases. However, the decisions that will ultimately be taken, most likely in The Hague, around war crimes or genocide in this instance will not be taken by citizens in isolation. Rather, they will be taken by qualified judicial practitioners who are not influenced by what anyone in this House says. They are not under our influence or direction. They will separate all of that out and go through the process on the basis of facts, no different from the way in which the Garda might follow an investigation or how the Special Criminal Court operates.

I have no problem with the House making a political judgment based not on what we have been told but on what we know and what some of us have seen. I am thankful other Senators are prepared to accept my bona fides and those of the Cathaoirleach - we have visited Ukraine and seen and spoken to people on the ground - and to stick with us and make that political judgment based on the evidence we have put before them. The courts will not be influenced by what we have said here or elsewhere. They will follow the evidence provided to them. I am happy we are not transgressing that important line - a line that should exist - separating our Legislature and a judiciary, given the way in which any such trial would be constituted and the jury would be independent of the sentiments expressed in this House.

We are taking the right decision. We are joining others in attempting to bring international pressure on the despot that is Putin. There is a notion that when the truth comes out and there is a laying down of arms, the Putin regime will want to reset diplomatic relations to what they were prior to the invasion and that it will be back to business as usual. Some commentary is attempting to do that, saying the sanctions will have to be lifted as part of the cessation of violence. That cannot happen. There cannot be a return to business as usual. Unfortunately for the Russian people, they will also suffer, but the people around Putin will have to be made to realise the decisions they took in February have consequences that will go beyond the ending of the violence. I hope that, in the fullness of time, the support of European politicians for individual parties in Russia that have democratic outlooks will lead to a change in direction in that country and that the people of Russia will at some stage recognise that the continuation of the Putin regime is not in their long-term interests, regardless of how they deemed it in the past.It is not in their long-term interest. Europe must hold firm on that.

Whatever about the issues relating to energy, which we need, and the pressure that will put on, I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, on the role he has played behind the scenes, alongside the Taoiseach, in working to bring about the sixth package of energy sanctions. That is important. It will put pressure on us but, by God, it will put pressure on Russia too. That €1 billion per day it has taken from us and used to fuel the war in Ukraine must be brought to an end, no matter the difficulties we will face in the short term. The Russian regime must be feeling that pain for a long time to come and I have every expectation that it will.