Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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-----and solidarity that is appreciated and understood by us, in that everyone wants to be in lockstep. I was one of the Deputies who was privileged to visit Moldova, to be well briefed in Chiinãu about exactly what was happening and to see it at first hand.

I have a couple of questions. Regarding energy, we saw Transnistria while we were there and it was clear to us that the Russians were sustaining Transnistria by supplying what was essentially free gas to that enclave. Transnistria is generating electricity that it is exporting to the rest of Moldova at a subsidised cost. Mrs. Miculet has explained the gas situation, but is Moldova still dependent on that source for electricity, is that source vulnerable or has Moldova diversified in electricity as well as it has in gas?

Regarding complying with the Copenhagen criteria and the European acquis, it was clear to us that, even since we joined, it has become infinitely more complex to work your way through the legal structures of accession. Not to put too fine a point on it, but one of the issues was Moldova's administrative capacity to do that and the need for external support. Is Moldova getting that support and is there anything we can do to help it work through the legal instruments and so on?

My next question relates to our experience in Moldova of seeing refugees. It has in excess of 80,000, very similar to the numbers we have in Ireland.

That is putting a strain on our capacity, especially to provide accommodation, but also healthcare and so on. One of the most memorable meetings we had was with the Moldovan health minister who was clear that additional resources were needed to cope with the influx. In respect of Moldova's population base, it is a significant imposition to have to provide adequate healthcare. Is that need being met and can we do more?