Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. As Irish people, we are extraordinarily proud of our performance on this issue, of how we have been so welcoming and accommodating and of the way we have broken down bureaucratic obstacles to accepting the incredible number of displaced Ukrainian people coming to this country. We can be very proud of the Irish effort from all the Departments, including that of the Minister, and of his leadership in this area. I ask him to forgive me for being unavoidably absent during his presentation. He may have answered some of the questions I am asking but I would like to hear his responses in any case. People outside the Oireachtas need to hear those responses.

First, does he see any glimmer of hope on the diplomatic front? Through his influence within the UN Security Council, does he entertain any prospect of that at this time? Are there any green shoots, to use a cliché, in terms of a possibility that reason could enter into this?

Second, the Minister always makes the point, correctly, that Ireland is working in concert with our European partners. Is he satisfied that we have dotted the i's and crossed the t's on sanctions and there is nothing left that we could be doing? Has he done such an audit or inventory to ensure everyone is performing? This is not all within his departmental brief but it is all relevant.

I support what Senator Craughwell said about Ukraine's application for EU membership. Will the Minister comment on that? It would be a great signal to grant membership to Ukraine and, indeed, to Georgia. We are living in exceptional times and it should be done, as I said to him on the most recent occasion he was in the Seanad. I disagree with my colleague, Senator Craughwell, on our neutrality. We cannot act in a knee-jerk fashion in this regard. I have great respect for the Senator but we must agree to disagree on this. It is a matter that requires much more consideration.