Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the question of whether the European Union has the tools, yes, it does. With the tools at its disposal, from an economic point of view, it has put in place a support programme of €12 billion - admittedly it has been done in conjunction with other international bodies - to support the stabilisation of Ukraine. It has already made it clear that it will suspend future visa arrangements with Russia in response to what has happened in Ukraine, but it has also made it clear that it will take further steps in terms of what could happen. We must hope that what could happen does not happen, that a good agreement can be reached to resolve the current difficulties in Ukraine and Crimea. The tools are in place and use has been made of them and more use could be made of them in the coming period.

On Deputy Bernard Durkan's question on the neighbourhood policy, I point to the strong and prominent role the European Union is playing in Serbia and Kosovo. In any evaluation of the Union's success we should remember two aspects, namely, the positive role it is playing in these two countries and that anything it does must be matched by leadership in the countries in which we are operating.