David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. I am at a loss for words, as many of us are, when I hear about the circumstances in Ukraine. I have met some people who have come here from Ukraine and they are worried about their families at home. The trauma they have gone through and are suffering is intense. We have our own response in Ireland with respect to the people who come here and how they will be looked after and housed. GP services, school services and education are issues Mr. O'Dwyer might speak to. I am concerned about those issues in the context of trying to normalise the lives of the children and young people who come here. I heard what was said recently with respect to doubling the humanitarian budget and that will be crucial. My concern relates to this crisis escalating further. If weapons that have never been used except for in Syria are used, that will make the scenario even worse, if that is possible. I refer to chemical weapons, biological weapons or, God forbid, nuclear weapons. Mr. Morris described the conflict as apocalyptic and that is certainly true. The ripple effects into other countries we have been talking about in recent times, such as in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, as well as in Yemen and other places, will be extraordinary and we cannot forget that either.

In the past, there has been resistance in countries in Europe where refugees were to be accommodated. The Chairman and I had experience of that in this country in our former roles. I ask the witnesses to comment on that. We have to prepare the people here and in Europe to welcome refugees so that does not become an issue.

Vaccination status is something that must be looked at as well. Statistics show that 80% of adults in Ukraine are vaccinated, although I stand to be corrected on that.

Words fail me, and I am sure they fail my colleagues as well, when I see what is going on in Ukraine. I have met women and children who have come here whose husbands and fathers are battling and fighting. They are at risk and may die. What is going on is just awful. In cities, children are being trafficked. There is talk of children being taken into Russia and people being taken into camps in Russia from Mariupol. If that is true, it goes back to what happened in the Second World War. There is not much more I can say. We must do all we can to support the people going through this horrendous suffering and argue for a peaceful solution at every forum, including the UN Security Council.