Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a number of points. Yesterday I attended a meeting on this same issue in Brussels that was organised by the socialists and democrats group. A number of people from a journalistic background were in attendance. Everyone was given some insight into what has happened to journalists and the importance of a free press. Mention was made of two journalists who were held for 11 days, stripped of their clothes, had their hair cut, were held incommunicado for the entire 11 days and did not know if they were going to survive. That was only a couple of weeks before the meeting. It was said that the day before that another three people had been kidnapped and they were held for a couple of days in the same way. The day before yesterday four attacks had been made on media offices supposedly by so-called Russian separatists. By now people have formed their views on the matter. The people at the meeting said that the media had been manipulated across the board regarding this matter and it is important to establish a free media.

The EU and others are concerned about the situation. Does Mr. O'Donnell see them having an important role to play? At the meeting the point was made that it was more than just people from a Ukrainian background who were investigating the situation and that journalists from the west were being attacked as well. They said that there were voices coming out of Russia as propaganda on the situation.

I agree with what Mr. O'Donnell said about a win:win situation. My view of the zero sum is that people were given an either-or option. It is important for us to move away from zero sums. That game continues because the Russians still propose it even though the country is practically bankrupt. The EU is also talking about the matter. We do need dialogue but people need to step back. Some of the options proposed by Mr. O'Donnell may work and they are worth looking at.

Some people have portrayed this situation as Moscow's grand plan to destabilise Ukraine. Does Mr. O'Donnell believe that claim? That is one viewpoint that has come out. Yesterday's discussion in Brussels was useful because there were new voices to listen to and some of them had been at the protests that took place on the square. They talked about what happened and the amount of people who had been killed. Information came out about the interior Minister ordering uniforms to be destroyed, that the weaponry used had been put offside and that the rounds of ammunition that had been ordered were used for deer hunting. There was a trail of information but that has all gone now at the hands of the previous minister.

We are playing catch up in terms of Ukraine. If we, as a society, are concerned about finding out what happened to many of the people who were killed then we need to conduct a separate body of work. Does Mr. O'Donnell agree that the EU should hold off any negotiating agreement with Ukrainian leaders until after the elections? There will be elections shortly. Will they help the situation? I note what he said in his report, that he is critical of people saying that it was an interim government and so on.

A question arose at yesterday's meeting about the inclusion of the far right in the Government such as the deputy prime minister and others. The person who chaired the conference, and was in the same group as Deputy Eric Byrne, said that such involvement is one of the concerns that people have in Europe. Also, there was reference to the fact that prior to the election those individuals had very little electoral support, yet nine members have been appointed to government, which sends out the wrong signal. No satisfactory answers were given on the day.

Another matter is the involvement in and building of civic society in Ukraine, which is hugely important as we move into the next phase. I am interested to hear Mr. O'Donnell's viewpoint on the matter.