Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will ask a question in the context of Ms Collins's former role. One of the things we picked up on when we went to Romania and Moldova was a clear message coming from politicians that because of the war they are now getting attention they were not getting previously. Is attention to eastern bloc countries something Ms Collins believes was missing prior to the war? I know that she was quite proactive in her previous role as ambassador to Finland. I met her there and much good work is going on in Finland. It is not right to collectively build a fence around all eastern bloc countries but the sense we got from Romania - Deputy Howlin was there as well and Deputies Ó Murchú and Haughey were on a recent trip to Georgia - was that because of the war it is now getting attention. Is that something Europe is conscious of? Did we miss a beat up to that? Do we concentrate too much on the western side?

I have spoken to the Spanish ambassador in the recent past and there is a sense we are not doing enough for the southern Mediterranean. Is there a periphery-core issue? We all live through it in this country, where because we on the periphery we sometimes feel we do not get the same attention as others. Is that a thing? I wanted to send back that message. That is why we will continue as a committee to focus on Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and the Balkan states. A representative appeared before this committee, Mrs. Eli Bojadjieska Ristovski, on behalf of North Macedonia. As a committee, we will continue to use our influence, presence and industry to try to build on those connections because at present Europe is very driven and very anxious to ensure accession for the Balkan states, in addition to looking at a roadmap for the likes of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. It would be interesting to hear both the Minister of State and Ms Collins's opinions on that.