James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Similar to the previous group of amendments, the Minister for Finance is not proposing to accept these two amendments, as the democratic accountability in the oversight of the MFA operations takes place at a European Union level, where the European Commission is obliged to report to the European Parliament and the European Council.

With specific regard to the issue of conditionality, the relevant EU regulations on the MFA operations to Ukraine are already in force, and stipulate the conditionality that attaches to the MFA operations. Ukraine has already met the conditions for the MFA operations for 2022 and 2023, which this legislation concerns, and the funding has been fully disbursed. What this legislation allows for is Irish participation in the funding arrangements for this support to the Ukrainian people, something I would hope enjoys unanimous support in this House.