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 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.
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It is from the 1950s.
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It came in during the 1950s.
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It came from legislation from 1954.
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All right.
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I can hear you.
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I thank the Deputies from all sides of the House and Ministers for their contributions today. I will reply to some of the points in order to provide clarification but from the get-go, I welcome the overwhelming, if not total sense of solidarity between this House and the people of Ukraine, particularly from opposition Members who recognise this is an utterly illegal and brutal war by the Russian Federation under the yoke of Vladimir Putin. It was initiated solely by the Russian Federation. The response to this brutal war has been remarkable. We are seeing unparalleled levels of European solidarity, both European Union and broader European solidarity, recognising the absolute need to provide that support for Ukraine. It is important to clarify a few points and I do so respectfully. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, did not say we are looking to train Ukrainian soldiers for war.
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I am just providing a clarification; I am not looking to get into a debate on it. We send members of the Defence Forces to train in de-mining activities. That is not training people for war; it is removing land mines from potentially targeting civilians. I am not taking issue with the other points the Deputy raised, but that specific one is particularly important.
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Respectfully, we are not taking sides as a military neutral.
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Respectfully, I answered the Deputy on one technical point, which is clear. Training people to remove land mines is not taking sides in a war. The national position is that we are not politically neutral; we are militarily neutral. If the Deputy thinks it is taking sides to remove land mines from blowing up women and children, that it is a different interpretation of what we are doing. Deputy Lawless made the point the triple lock goes back to 2011, when actually it goes back to the 1960 Defence Act. I say that deliberately because it is important to provide clarity. Deputy Collins managed to make a three-minute contribution to a debate on Ukraine and not mention Ukraine once. This is really important. Other people discussed immigration and tied it to Ukraine. I have no issue with that. People are right to raise issues and points of clarification, as Deputy Healy-Rae did. I respect his right to do so and acknowledge the points he raised, but when people bring up the EU migration pact, which has nothing specifically to do with providing shelter for up to 118,000 Ukrainian refugees, it takes issue with the essence of what we are trying to debate. Deputy Heneghan raised a number of points requiring a specific response. One was on the need to strengthen our capabilities as a militarily neutral sovereign country. I fully agree with him and that is why the review of the Commission on the Defence Forces laid out three options and the Government is pursuing the second option. There has been a massive increase in resources to our cyberdefence capability. There has been the setting-up of a maritime defence system to make sure those undersea cables can be monitored. We need to acknowledge the requirement for co-operation on defence. That does not mean joining any alliances or anything like that. It is basic common sense that when we talk of cables that serve the entire Continent of Europe from North America, we speak to our neighbours in Europe. That is why we have a memorandum of understanding -----
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I only have ten minutes and referred to Deputy Healy-Rae's point five minutes ago. I am referring to Deputy Heneghan's questions. That is why we have a memorandum of understanding on defence with the United Kingdom and why we co-operate in sharing information with the tech companies and the private sector. It is to provide those cables. I acknowledge, first and foremost, that we need to do more.
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Ah Jesus, Deputy Healy-Rae.
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What I mean when I say we need to do more is that we need to resource our Defences Forces more and continue investing in new equipment. Respectfully, I answered one technical query Deputy Healy-Rae asked. I moved on five minutes ago. I am talking about a situation that impacts his constituents as much as it impacts mine. He was given his time; I am given my time to respond for the Government. Respectfully, I will continue without interruption, if that is all right. When we talk about solidarity with Ukraine and the cost of providing supports to the Ukrainian people, being humanitarian and welcoming people into our homes and homesteads, we also have to ask the cost of not doing that. What is the cost of a Russian victory in Ukraine? Whether we like it or not, or believe in some form of splendid geographic isolation, a Russian victory across Ukraine would have a massive impact on the Continent of Europe and on the European Union, of which we are a member. If Ukraine falls, where is next - the Baltic states, Poland? We have already seen transgressions of drones into European Union airspace, hybrid warfare activity and systems attacked in Estonia. Our own health system was hacked a number of years ago and sent offline by a criminal gang that was operating with impunity in the Russian Federation. We see levels of disinformation and misinformation online throughout the electoral process in countries like the Netherlands, France and Austria. As I have stated before, over 50 Members of this House find themselves sanctioned by the Russian Federation due to the diktat of the ambassador in Orwell Road simply for saying clearly that the Russian war is illegal. There are tools for accountability. When we talk of sanctions and enter into the 19th round of EU sanctions against Russia, that is accountability. When we talk of freezing Russian assets, that is accountability. The Irish Government's position is clear that there is the ability to use the proceeds of frozen assets to pay for the repair and reconstruction of the Russian damage in Ukraine. That is a policy we are keen on in terms of accountability. When we set up the tribunal at the Council of Europe, that was backed. I travelled to Ukraine and to Lviv for the signing ceremony to which Ireland, with a number of countries from Europe and around the world, were party. There has to be accountability. There has to be work in the international criminal courts because Russia's invasion of Ukraine is illegal. We see consistent reports of Russian activity within Ukrainian territory. The Taoiseach detailed at length the forced kidnapping of children from the Ukrainian territory into Russia. We see attacks on food and energy, which are deemed war crimes. There has to be accountability for that. The Irish people have made it clear that they stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. They have opened their hearts and homes. The Government has made it clear that we stand with our European friends and colleagues in support of a fellow European nation that has had its sovereignty invaded by an illegal force, whichc has breached repeated international treaties to which it is party, as is Ukraine. We look to the future and the future has to be clear. We want peace on this Continent because the impacts of the war are being materially felt by Irish people on a daily basis. Our grocery and energy prices are high due to the inflationary process of Russia's war in Ukraine. Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe in terms of the production of grain. That has been severely hampered by the acts of Russia. Ukraine was a key provider of natural gas and a key facilitator of the travelling of natural gas and other raw minerals across the European Continent. Energy prices have gone up due to Russia's illegal invasion and attacking of pipelines, among other things. This war, as well as being horrific, is taking so many lives. Deputy Heneghan speaks of the Ukrainian community he represents. I take issue in that I do not think he quite plays at the same level as the Soroka brothers but I know they are members of the same club. We are talking about people seeing their families wiped out and seeing their husbands, sons and fathers being sent to war because they have no choice. If you really want to talk brass tacks, this hurts Irish people in the pocket as well as being a potential existential threat to the future of European safety and security and the freedom and democracy we all cherish in this Republic. We must continue our support of the Ukrainian people until there is peace in Ukraine that allows for the reconstruction of Ukraine and the reintroduction of Ukraine into the global world order and, equally, until we see Ukraine in due course take its rightful seat as a fellow member of the European Union. That is something Ireland supports. Ireland supports European enlargement more generally, but having Ukraine as part of the European Union would be good for Ukraine, the European Union and, crucially, Ireland. I thank the Deputies from all parties and none who contributed to this debate.
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