Mattie McGrath says support for Kyiv ignores pressures on low and middle income families

A Tipperary TD has issued a sharp rebuke of political culture in the Dáil, arguing that what passes for parliamentary debate has descended into what he terms a “back slapping charade” driven by “virtue signalling”.

Mattie McGrath made the remarks after choosing not to attend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to the Oireachtas earlier this week.

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In a statement posted on social media, Independent TD Mattie McGrath claimed that “the corruption in Ukraine should not be fed with Irish money.”

He said he cannot understand why the state continues to provide what he describes as “lavish funding” to Ukraine when many low and middle income households are struggling due to limited government supports.

Deputy McGrath warned that “there is a backlash building around what many now perceive as a politically motivated double standard in treatment.”

He said the scale of alleged corruption at senior levels in Ukraine requires far more scrutiny. “We urgently need to come to terms with the scale of corruption that exists at the highest levels in Ukraine.

Presidents Zelensky's own Chief of Staff has been forced out because of his alleged participation in a massive fraud. Are we to just bury our heads in the sand about that and go on shovelling cash into Ukrainian coffers while our pensioners think twice about turning on the heat?”

McGrath said his frustration led him to boycott President Zelensky’s recent address to the Oireachtas. “I did not attend President Zelenskys address because I am sick of the back slapping charade and virtue signalling that passes for politics in the Dáil.”

Reflecting on the early days of the war, he said Irish people responded generously but now feel taken advantage of. “When the war started, we opened our doors.

But as time has gone on, we have been taken for fools. Zelensky says we are generous. What he means is that we are a soft touch.

All he has to do is talk for a few minutes in the Dáil chamber, flatter the government and they send him on his way with another €125millon.”

Deputy McGrath said the overall financial commitment has now gone too far. “From what I can see we have now given almost a billion in direct aid to Ukraine. It's time to call a halt to this once and for all.”

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