Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 March 2022
206. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the response of her Department to the Ukrainian war crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13731/22]
View answerSince the illegal, unprovoked and unjustified further invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces on 24 February, Ireland has stood in unwavering solidarity with the people and government of Ukraine.
The Government acknowledged the scale and scope of the potential implications for the State and agreed that a co-ordinated, whole-of-Government response will be essential to minimise those impacts. My Department will continue to participate in and support these efforts as appropriate.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has led on Ireland’s foreign policy response to this flagrant violation of international law and norms, including through multilateral engagement with European Union partners and at the United Nations, the development of sanctions and the provision of consular assistance to Irish citizens affected by the invasion, and the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Ireland has announced contributions totalling €20 million in humanitarian assistance from Irish Aid funding to support key humanitarian partners in Ukraine and neighbouring countries in responding to the crisis.
From a tourism perspective, the European Travel Commission (ETC), representing national tourism organisations of Europe, of which Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland are members, recently issued a statement condemning the military aggression by the Russian Federation and expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The tourism agencies will continue to monitor the evolving tourism related situation. Officials from my Department and Fáilte Ireland have also engaged with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on the issue of accommodation for displaced nationals arriving from Ukraine.
On Monday, I along with all other EU Ministers for Culture and Media, adopted a Declaration expressing our solidarity with Ukraine and our support for Ukrainian artists, journalists, and cultural and media professionals, and our readiness to assist them. We also committed to exchanging information, combining our efforts and sharing best practices in order to stand in solidarity with and welcome Ukrainian artists, journalists and cultural and media professionals, and assess further ways forward regarding cultural cooperation.
On 1st March the Council of the European Union agreed Council Regulation (EU) 2022/350, which prohibits the broadcast of any content by Russia Today, its regional subsidiaries and Sputnik throughout the European Union. This Regulation took immediate and direct effect throughout the EU on 2nd March. The restrictive measure form part of the fourth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation adopted by the European Union. The penalties, in Irish law, for contravening this restrictive measure are set out in a statutory instrument made by the Department of Finance – the European Union (Restrictive Measures concerning Ukraine) (No.5) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 94 of 2022). The Department of Foreign Affairs leads an inter-Departmental group on the enforcement of sanctions. and my Department will provide any assistance that is appropriate.
I have also responded to correspondence received from the Ministers of Culture of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia , indicating that I will support potential future action, if necessary against state-sponsored media outlets like Sputnik and Russia Today which support the aggression against Ukraine and target European Union countries with disinformation and propaganda.
