Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

According to Mr. O'Donnell's curriculum vitae, one of the schools he attended is St. Vincent's in Glasnevin, which is in the constituency I represent.

Last night's Irish television news carried pictures of our President and the Queen of England speaking together at the banquet in Windsor Castle and this reminded us of our troubled, difficult and fractured history and relationship with Britain and where we are at this point in time. This was followed by a report on violence at a meeting in the Ukrainian Parliament. It was appalling to see members of parliament beating each other up in the parliament. Where will the leadership come from if that is the solution to a disagreement between people with varying views?

When the Ukrainian ambassador appeared before the committee, he described vividly the Russian language issue for people in the Crimea and gave an example of that and when the Russian ambassador appeared before us, I asked him why these human rights issues had not been brought to the various authorities and he had no answer. I was left to draw my own conclusions from that.

I have a question about the implications of what has happened not only for Ukraine and Crimea but for the other former members of the USSR. One cannot help feeling their fear and the dangerous scenario they are in if this is the beginning of the age of imperialism, round two. The other issue is gas and energy dependence and what is going on in this regard. What is Mr. O'Donnell's view on that? Senator Norris mentioned the ports issue. The significance of the port for the Russian fleet was not recognised. Could Mr. O'Donnell identify one priority that would address the issue in order that there would be a return to democracy in Ukraine?