Taoiseach Micheál Martin has called Vladimir Putin a “bully” and “a thug” as it has emerged four Irish babies are in a maternity hospital in Ukraine.
Mr Martin said the Irish Government will “scale up” it’s response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Mr Martin said: “Vladimir Putin, who is a bully and a thug, has unleashed an unprovoked and unjustifiable war on the people of Ukraine committing war crimes in the process as we are witnessing.
“It is difficult to comprehend, a week ago it would have been unimaginable to see what we’re witnessing now, a 40 mile-long convoy of Russian troops and heavy military equipment grinding its way towards Kiev.
“Where children and their families take shelter in the underground.”
He said there is an “extraordinary” package of sanctions placed on Russia on its banks being locked outside the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
He added: “The biggest challenge facing us I believe, is that we must be very, very generous in terms of the refugee crisis that will undoubtedly flow as a result of this war.
“It will be beyond anything that we comprehend before and I said to my colleagues in Government that we must put to one side what we might consider to be the norms in terms of responding in a humanitarian way to the plight of the Ukrainian people.”
It comes as Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said Irish families may be asked to open their homes to help accommodate up to 20,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Tanáiste Leo Varadkar said that the Government is not going to put a limit on the number of Ukrainians who can come to Ireland.
He said: "It could be thousands, it could be tens of thousands.”
Sinn Fein leader Mary McDonald said there was a need for an intensification of sanctions on Russia and Putin.
She said the international community “can and will put our foot down” and asked Mr Martin to set out how “we might deepen again these economic sanctions.”
Mr Martin said in terms of the Russian banking system, there has been a severe form of sanctions and being denied access and frozen out of accessing its reserves which he called “unprecedented.”
He said financial transactions with Russian banks and companies are being prohibited so therefore it is difficult for Russia to buy exports.
He said the many Russian banks restricted from the SWIFT payments network will “hamper” Russian purchasing power and inflation in Russia will likely rise significantly.
There have been repeated calls for the Russian ambassador to Ireland, Yuriy Filatov to be expelled.
Tanáiste Leo Varadkar said he understands and shares the frustration about the Russian ambassador to Ireland but said it is important that the channels of communication are kept open so the Irish Government can liaise with Irish people in Russia.
He said four Irish babies are currently in a maternity hospital in Ukraine.
There are 74 Irish citizens still in Ukraine and Irish diplomats are said to be in close contact with them.
Mr Varadkar said Ireland "will take all actions short of military action" to support Ukraine and will provide financial and humanitarian assistance.
The Fine Gael leader said Ireland will not be sending any weapons to Ukraine as "we are a militarily neutral country.”
He said: "We're not politically neutral, but we are neutral in military terms and that means that we don't commit troops for combat in wars and it also means that we don't provide weapons to anyone and that is part of our doctrine of military neutrality."
Speaking to RTÉ, Mr Varadkar said that creating a refugee crisis is "part of Putin's plan" to try and destabilise central and eastern Europe.
He said: "We can't let that happen. That's why we have made the decision to allow Ukrainians come to Ireland, to live here, to work here.”
