Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the ambassador. It is two and a half hours since he first entered our Chamber to be with us. I thank him for his time. On behalf of members, let me say that we are grateful for his attendance. We acknowledge that he is not answerable to an Irish parliamentary committee and is in no way accountable to Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann. Having regard to that we are grateful for the time he has spent with us and for his acceptance of our invitation to attend. He will be aware, as we are, that we meet at a time of great uncertainty, a time of considerable instability in Europe. He has listened to members of our committee who represent all parties in Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann and some Independents. While we differ over a range of issues he will have heard that we are united in our position as an all-party committee in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. He will have heard an expression of a unified voice for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We leave him with that strong message, that he should use his undoubted influence - as indeed we saw last week - and his good offices in Moscow to take a message that de-escalation of current tensions and the pursuit of diplomacy is the only way forward at this time. We thank him for being with us and look forward to further engagement.