Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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196. To ask the Minister for Finance the extent to which he, together with his Finance Minister colleagues at ECOFIN, continues to explore ways and means of minimising the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on European and global economies. [48659/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The economic and financial impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine was discussed at ECOFIN in Brussels, on 8 November.

The economic outlook continues to be dominated by the impact of the war in Ukraine, with implications for inflationary pressures across global and EU economies. Ministers agreed to continue to take necessary actions to mitigate the impact on our economies, targeting supports to protect vulnerable households and businesses, while ensuring the sustainability of public finances. Any budgetary measures, which aim to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices, should be temporary and targeted.

Nevertheless, the evolution of the war and accompanying uncertainty will continue to present ongoing risks and there is a need to continue to closely monitor the situation in Ukraine along with inflation, energy price developments, second round effects and the impact which they have on economies.

Ministers also received an update on progress on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, including on the REPowerEU proposal, which is a plan to phase out the Union’s dependency on Russian fossil fuel imports. This aims to strengthen the strategic autonomy of the Union by diversifying energy supplies and boosting the independence and security of the Union’s energy supply.

Ministers also discussed the scale of challenges facing Ukraine in both the short term and the long-term, including providing a more strategic approach to future EU financing to support Ukraine.