Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions and kind remarks. On the Windsor Framework, the EU expects to get on with its work in the next month in terms of the regulatory framework and the regulations on foot of it. We do not have a timeline for the UK at the moment. Obviously, there are various sensitivities that they are working through with the five parties in Northern Ireland as well. We await an update on a definitive timeline. However, it is important to keep a robust trajectory in pointing out the merits of the deal through all sectors of the UK Government. It is very important for them to take ownership of that at this juncture to ensure that meets the criteria of all those involved.

Second, on Ukraine, we provided approximately €77 million through the European peace facility, EPF. That has been made up of items such as containerised water treatment plants, blood bags, food, armour and parts and spare parts for the electricity grid because they have had a significant number of outages. I found it poignant when I was speaking to my Austrian counterpart, the minister for European affairs. She told me she was in Kyiv when there a missile strike in a building adjacent to where she was staying. Austria is a neutral country as well. The firefighters who attended and rushed as first responders to that scene were wearing Austrian personal protective equipment. She could see the Austrian emblem on the back of it. That brought home to me the power a neutral state can have in assisting first responders and how valuable it is under the peace facility. We can provide the committee with a list of the various different components of what Ireland gives and brings to the table.

On assisting the mission, approximately 30 Defence Forces personnel have been approved to provide specialised and co-ordinated training with member states and training officers to assist in training in Ukraine. On the specifics of the mission and what type of training it is, we can revert to the Deputy. It is in line with the precedents of the many EU military assistance missions we have taken part in.

On enlargement, a number of countries in the queue have either candidate status, are approved and in negotiations, or are applying. The Deputy referenced Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. In respect of Georgia, there are some significant issues still. On agents of foreign influence, we saw in the media last night a number of protests on this very concerning action.