Yesterday, the Taoiseach laid out Ireland's priorities for the EU Presidency. He said: "Active support for Ukraine will be a defining priority for the Irish presidency." On Tuesday night, missiles rained down on the Kharkiv region bringing destruction, injury and death to the civilian population. One of those who lost their life was a 22-year-old pregnant woman. A one-year-old child was among those seriously injured. This is the brutality caused by drones and missiles that land on Ukrainian homes on a daily basis. An investigation carried out by The Irish Times and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found that vast amounts of alumina are being shipped from Ireland to Russia. On arrival, it is being sold to a company that supplies dozens of Russian arms manufacturers. This flies in the face of Irish people's support for Ukraine. Alumina exports to Russia have increased from €196 million in 2021 to €318 million last year. According to a report by Swedish tax investigators, the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, retains a controlling share of the company that has a majority ownership of Aughinish Alumina. Deripaska is a close ally and supporter of Putin. He has contributed substantially to Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine. The Government's head-in-the-sand approach is in sharp contrast to the decisive action taken by Australia. It banned the export of alumina to Russia as soon as it invaded Ukraine. At the time, Australia supplied 20% of Russia's alumina, but it still acted with urgency. It did this because alumina played a critical role in Russia's war machine, as its then Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, said. The Australians did not want to play any part whatsoever in feeding Putin's murderous war. Instead, they said they would work with companies and exporters impacted by the ban to find new markets and expand existing ones. After Australia cut off its supply, the Russians had to look elsewhere to find replacements, including Aughinish Alumina, where exports to Russia have soared. The Minister claims he has no idea about the end use of the alumina exported from Ireland, but it is clear from independent investigations that it is being used by Russian arms manufacturers. These arms are then being used to kill Ukrainian men, women and children. Will the Government stop the export of alumina to Russia? When will the Department's investigation be completed? Will it be published? Have we asked the Ukrainian Government for samples from drones and missiles to forensically analyse against samples from Aughinish?
Sentiment score: -0.17
Will the Minister answer my questions?
Sentiment score: 0.00
The facts on this have been established. Since the war began our exports to Russia have soared. That is one fact. The second fact is these exports come from a company where the majority ownership behind it is a Russian oligarch who is a close ally and supporter of Putin. The third fact that has been established by an independent investigation is that when these exports go to Russia they are being used to produce aluminium that is then being sold to Russian arms manufacturers. The fourth fact is those Russian arms manufacturers are supplying Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the missiles, drones and weapons are being used to kill Ukrainian people. The facts are staring the Minister in the face. The Australians knew the facts more than four years ago. They acted decisively. Why is the Government hiding behind its claim that it needs to ascertain the truth and establish what is going on here when it has been established already? When is the Government going to act decisively on this? When is it going to stop these exports? Will the Minister answer my questions? Has the Government asked the Ukrainian Government for samples of drones and missiles so it can forensically examine them to establish the links with the exports from Ireland?
Sentiment score: -0.10