Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms McKenna, Mr. Morris and Mr. O'Sullivan for their contributions. I also join with the Chairman in welcoming the Polish ambassador to the meeting. I commend the Polish people on the tremendous efforts they have made to accommodate those fleeing this horrific war in Ukraine. I also pay tribute to Romania, Moldova and other countries. We read about this every day and see it on television. There are witnesses on the ground telling us 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine to date and 6.5 million are displaced within Ukraine. As Mr. O'Sullivan said, that figure is expected to go up to 8 million in the next week or so. It is a horrific situation.

Ms McKenna mentioned that the World Food Programme gets half of the wheat it distributes in humanitarian crises from Ukraine. That is a very serious statement. She said the programme needs to find other sources of supplies. Horrific and all as the war in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis there are, there are still huge humanitarian difficulties in Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. Where does the World Food Programme hope to source this wheat now? We feel Ireland is self-sufficient when it comes to food, yet the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister are trying to incentivise farmers to grow wheat here for ourselves. It is devastating to hear that half of the wheat upon which we depend to feed people in these other countries came from Ukraine. I would be interested to know where the witnesses intend sourcing that from now.

I agree with the calls for the humanitarian budget to be increased. As a committee, we would be very glad to do whatever we can to encourage not only our Government but our European partners to do that. Any advice for us in that regard would be very welcome and we would like to hear from the witnesses on it.