Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have an issue with this proposal. The situation in Ukraine is very difficult.

It is very complex and it probably needs more time for discussion than we are able to deliver here. I also believe, obviously, that Ukraine is at a critical juncture in how it resolves its relationships with the EU and Russia. Everybody would support the Ukrainians in their efforts to deal with that. Russia has obviously played a shocking role in the destabilisation of the region and it has been very expansionist in that regard. Its role has been a multiple of any role played by the EU. However, the EU's role has been expansionist in the area and this negotiation of a trade agreement is part of that expansion and it is happening at the same time as Ukraine is trying to resolve its relationship internally.
We have been given this COM not as an opportunity to give input to it, but just as a fait accompli. We should communicate our dissatisfaction to the source of this COM that our national Parliament, the Oireachtas, has not been given an opportunity to input into its development in some way before it has become a done deal, as such.