Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not be long because a lot of the points that have been raised about our visit have been articulated by my two colleagues. There is nothing surer than seeing something for real, for yourself, to raise the temperature of the emotions you feel. Deputy Brady has expressed in a lovely way the impact that meeting the children and the refugees personally and listening to their stories has had on how we feel. I will not speak for my colleagues, but not happy is how we feel, or definitely how I feel.

Both ambassadors are incredibly gracious and diplomatic and would not be in the jobs they are in if they were not, but that is tinged, from my perspective, with a lot of anger, not just at our own response in helping neighbouring European countries on the front line but also at the European Union and, to my mind, its complete lack of financial support for the countries neighbouring Ukraine. It is an absolute insult for the European Union to tell member states to use their cohesion funding that is desperately needed for the reasons the Cohesion Fund is there in the first place in place of giving real financial support for refugees, particularly along the countries bordering Ukraine.

The reality for me and the takeaway from the visit is not only how beautiful the part of the world the ambassadors come from and live in is, and it definitely requires return visits in normal times, but also the generosity of the people in their part of the world, more so from Moldova than Romania, who have so little but who are giving so much. It puts me to shame and causes me embarrassment that I find myself in a country that has taken in 25,000 refugees and we are already telling the country that we are creaking at the seams. Moldova has 91,000 refugees and a smaller population that has the generosity to put refugees in their own homes. They do not have to have special rooms, special buses or the nonsense we go on with in this country. I applaud the ambassadors' respectfulness in the response they have given to the statement we made nearly a month ago that we would take an extra 500 refugees with special needs from Moldova. From my latest inquiries with the Department of Justice yesterday, I understand we are still tinkering around the edges of trying to find somewhere to put them, while the people and citizens of Moldova and Romania have them staying in their sheds and have not grumbled about the fact that they will look after them. We are still tinkering around the edges as to where we will find to put them. The committee should praise the humanitarian responses of the peoples of both Romania and Moldova, and indeed probably Bulgaria and Poland, countries which we have not even got to speak to or see yet.

What we should do next is bring in the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Justice and Housing, Local Government and Heritage and meet with the European Commission to find out exactly what the hell is going on, and not only with streaming funds to look after the refugees. I am emotionally engaged now at a level at which I certainly was not before my visit. To my mind, this war could have been over if the EU had made decisions a lot sooner. If it actually wanted this war to be over today, it would be over today. The likes of Poland and Bulgaria and the absolutely brave and singular stances they have taken in response to Gazprom are something we should all applaud and ask to be repeated by every other European country.

What probably struck me most, apart from meeting the refugees, the volunteers and the other people who were giving, and probably the most impactful person to me was a lady I met in Romexpo. I think she could have single-handedly organised the response herself she was so effective and such a lovely and honest person.

I do not think we have really decided from a European perspective that this war should be over. The things that need to be done should have already been done. With respect to the visit and the people we met, the next steps we should take are to resolve some of the issues that were presented to us during the tour. Probably the most impactful was the need for cash. As Deputy Brady said, we were accompanied by a gentleman from The Irish Timeswho reported at an emotional level I do not think I had seen in The Irish Timesbefore that, which was really appreciated. When he asked me one day about the €1 million we were clapping ourselves on the back for having given the Moldovan Government, I thought it was buttons and an embarrassment. We should be doing so much more, whether at a European level or an Irish level. It is an embarrassment that our local Red Cross in Ireland has fundraised €30 million in recent years and the Irish Government is clapping itself on the back for giving the Moldovan Government €1 million. I am sorry. I know the witnesses are being diplomatic, but it is an absolute disgrace. It is definitely something we should take on board. Having now met the ambassadors on the return from our trip, when we release our report this week, the people who can give the answers to the questions we raised while touring Moldova and Romania a number of weeks ago should be around this table, and we should do that sooner rather than later. I commend all the people of Moldova and Romania and all their efforts.

My final comment is to H.E. Dr. tefan. The deputy foreign affairs minister we met the day we were leaving told us that Romania has been banging the table for ten years trying to get the French in particular and the Russians to feel and to hear the message it has given. The deputy minister said that Romania finally felt vindicated that they have woken up and finally seen the threat Russia poses. I contend that they still have not acted on the acknowledgement of that threat. If anybody is dragging their heels on the European Union's response that is needed, it is probably the Germans and French.

The reality should be borne home by the other member states that we can no longer tolerate what is happening and that the decisions we know need to be made must be made now.