John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for coming before the committee with their presentations, which were very informative but very harrowing. Unfortunately, in all conflicts, it is the innocent who are always the real victims. In this case, everyone in Ukraine is a victim but particularly women and children, when we see that 90% of displaced people are women and children. We also see this in Ireland, where the vast majority of the 35,000 refugees who have ended up here are women and children. I know the impact that has on people in terms of trauma and separation. In these Houses, we were some of the first, if not the only ones, to recognise that genocide is taking place in Ukraine in terms of the forced separation of families, women and children from fathers back at home, trying to defend the homeland against a brutal and illegal invasion.

We know from other conflicts right across the world how instrumental women are in bringing positive benefits to conflict resolution. Unfortunately, we saw during Covid that many women were forced to pull back from those central, key positions in conflict resolution and go back into the household to deal with the impact of Covid. On top of that, we have the horrific, barbaric assault on Ukraine.

A number of points struck me. One concerns HIV, which is not an area I had given much focus to, but I really appreciate the information on the unfortunate reality of HIV in Ukraine when coupled with the invasion. One line in the presentation that struck me is that HIV treatment inside the occupied territory is taking place with the support of drivers in bakery vans. It is very stark that people who need to access HIV drugs are reliant on bakery vans to distribute something as critical and essential. I thank the witnesses for pointing that out as it is very stark.

A question stems from that. We know the number of people who have been internally and externally displaced here in Ireland and right across Europe, for example, in Romania, Moldova and Poland. I want to ask about the difficulties, particularly for women, in having their medical records transferred when they are displaced internally but particularly externally in other countries. How much of a challenge is it to get the medical reports that are needed to ensure continuity of medical care, whether it is maternity care, HIV treatment or access to drugs in other countries? I want to see how much of a problem that is or whether mechanisms have been put in place.

Unfortunately, in all wars, we also see the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. The human rights monitoring group stated in early June that there were 124 cases of alleged acts of conflict-related sexual violence across Ukraine, which is probably a low estimate, unfortunately. It is appalling. I met a number of Ukrainian Members of Parliament who are in Leinster House today and I posed a question to them on the 16,000 investigations now being looked into by the prosecutor general, of which many are acts of violence towards women. They said that one thing they need more of is female investigators to carry out the investigations into these acts of sexual violence and other acts of violence against women in Ukraine. Is that very prevalent? It was a specific need that was identified and put to us when we met the Ukrainian MPs earlier today.

Obviously, trauma is a huge issue. It was pointed out again today that refugees come in waves. The first wave of refugees to land in Ireland and other countries were those who got out of Ukraine very early, before some of the more barbaric, genocidal acts had taken place. We see subsequent waves of refugees now being displaced from southern Ukraine and eastern Ukraine who have had to endure 115 or 116 days of barbaric onslaught. I want to ask about psychological supports, on which there was a specific request. More psychological supports are needed in Ukraine to help women and children in particular. What supports are there and what additional supports are needed? What role do the witnesses see countries such as Ireland playing? While we are militarily neutral, when it comes to the political level, we are not neutral in terms of support for trauma and psychological supports. These are real tangible actions we can take to help. I would like to get a view on that.