Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ambassador and his team. I think they have possibly been our closest European neighbour since 1798 but we can discuss that again. I will not mention the protocol because I am sure the many experts on it in attendance will mention it.

I will come back to the themes of the Presidency - recovery, strength and belonging. They were the themes on 1 January and today Europe is in a very different place. What are the lessons to be learned from how Europe allowed itself to become so dependent on Russia that we are now struggling and our people are paying an enormous price, and will pay a bigger one in the coming months to take ourselves away from that, economically and politically?

The ambassador mentioned that the threats are many. The biggest threat at the moment to European solidarity and unity is economic. What are the lessons from the Presidency? What is the view, as France begins to move on from the Presidency, of how that will be managed? The ambassador mentioned European unity and since the invasion it has been superb. Before the invasion, I criticised it and felt the Commission and President were laissez-faireand there could have been far more intervention at an earlier stage. Since the end of February there has been an excellent response. Does the ambassador feel that will continue as the pressures grow and we go into a winter where our dependence on energy, in particular, will be tested? What is the view of the French Government regarding lessons to be learned?