Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hope both of you will have an opportunity to formally visit Ireland in the near future when circumstances allow. You will have an opportunity to meet with representatives of in excess of 60,000 temporarily displaced people who have received a welcome from us in Ireland. We will continue to do our best with regard to appropriate accommodation, the need for schooling and education, health services and integration with the Irish community through jobs and social services.

If Mr. Merezhko is planning a parliamentary visit, we would be more than pleased to host him. Perhaps it is something that might be planned for next year. I will say in conclusion, that as parliamentarians, Mr. Merezhko, his colleagues, and his Government can be particularly proud of the active role being played here on a 24-7 basis by their excellent ambassador, H.E. Ms Larysa Gerasko, who has been particularly active here in matters relating to Ukraine and Ireland. She is a credit to the Ukrainian Government and to her people.

Ireland will continue to prioritise the situation in Ukraine, whether as a national sovereign State in terms of our support for Ukraine, and through the international organisations such as the European Union, of which we are an active member, where we are engaged with the financing and reconstruction plan, our support in terms of humanitarian aid through commitment to the European Peace Facility and also our monetary contribution towards the International Criminal Court. Mr. Merezhko will have got a flavour from our members. As a parliamentary committee, our members represent Government and Opposition parties, and in the case of Senator Craughwell, Independent members. While we may differ in terms of emphasis, what I hope he has felt is solidarity from the Irish Parliament and its representatives towards Ukraine and the illegal occupation of its country earlier this year. We trust we will have a further opportunity of engaging directly with Mr. Merezhko and his members in the new year perhaps, when hopefully the circumstances in Ukraine will have changed for the better. In the meantime, we extend our full support to him and wish him every success in his endeavours to facilitate his people in this time of great crisis. I thank both Mr. Merezhko and Ms Rudenko.