Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Our friends are welcome. The ambassador is welcome. The Hague Convention defines neutrality. I trust that the Cathaoirleach will forgive me for challenging neutrality at this point in time. Ireland only ever once defined neutrality, which was in Ireland's White Paper on foreign policy in 1995, Challenges and Opportunities Abroad, in chapter 4 on international security.Paragraph 4.5 states:

In the strict sense of international law and practice, neutrality and its attendant rights and duties do not exist in peacetime; they arise only during a state of war. Neutrality represents an attitude of impartiality adopted by a state towards the participants in a conflict and recognised as such by the belligerents. Such an attitude creates certain rights and duties between the neutral state and the belligerents, which commence at the outbreak of war and end with its cessation.

Why did I read that into the record? Ireland has never been a neutral state. The only time we have been tested before now was between 1939 and 1945, during the Second World War, when we openly repatriated members of the Allied forces who landed on our island - in our Republic - across the Border so that they could get back into the war. We are being tested now. We are facing autocracy versus democracy in Ukraine. The question is: where do we stand? We have provided medical aid, financial support, helmets and flak jackets. Sitting in a building not so far away from us right now are a substantial number of Javelin rockets that can be used to take out tanks, a substantial number of Gustaf 84 mm anti-tank weapons that can be used to take out tanks, a substantial number of AT4 anti-tank missiles that can be used to be take out tanks and other weapons. We also have a substantial number of artillery weapons that we could supply.

Failing to give the weapons to the Ukrainians to defend themselves is akin to me offering to hold someone's jacket while they fight someone else with a gun. I know that many people in Ireland feel we should not provide weapons. However, asking Ukrainians to defend themselves against a vicious and unwarranted attack and offering them nothing but money and stating that our hands tied with respect to weapons is not good enough. I am a military man. Those of us in this House and the Lower House who come from a military background believe that the only way to support a military force is by providing weapons that can be used to fight off the enemy. I make a plea here and now among my colleagues. Real support comes through providing Ukrainians with the tools to save their lives, to save the lives of their children, to maintain their cities and to stop the Russians in their tracks.

Let me turn to the issue of food. We spoke this morning about the grain and the grain stores. I believe Mr. Natalukha told me this morning it is 700 million tonnes. Is that it?