Professor Gerard Bury:

I thank the Deputy for a comprehensive set of questions. I will ask Professor Fitzpatrick to talk about future funding frameworks and the issues we need to look at going forward in a moment.

We do not at all want to look ungracious. The Irish Red Cross has been superb in its support. We always over ask in terms of what we expect. The offer of €100,000 yesterday from the Irish Red Cross, in addition to the €300,000 it has already donated to us, is hugely appreciated. Clearly any further funds from either the HSE, on behalf of Departments, or the Irish Red Cross, on behalf of the Irish people, in terms of the funds it has collected, would be very welcome but we very much wish to acknowledge the generosity and the kindness of those agencies.

The very practical clinical issue we have been addressing in our project is that of pre-hospital emergency care, the sharp stuff, right up at the point where people are injured or killed. The care of those people in the first hour or so after they have suffered a major issue is critical to their survival. Irish emergency services or colleagues in the statutory emergency service in this country deliver a superb standard of care to those patients. There are approximately 5,000 major trauma victims in this country who benefit from a well-established system of care.

Time is of the essence. In Ukraine, many civilians and military casualties of the war wait for eight to 12 hours at the spot at which they are injured for evacuation to a hospital or stabilisation centre. Vehicles that can robustly travel to the point of injury and retrieve that person to a stabilisation point are critical. One of the most important pieces of kit from a humanitarian point of view have turned out to be 4x4 jeeps but their life span is very short; only a matter of weeks. This is not a part of our project's work but is a wonderful example of the work that other Irish individuals and small groups have taken on of their own volition. They have identified this niche area. It seems that this State, as a purchaser and disposer of large numbers of vehicles on an annual basis, might consider setting aside some of its suitable vehicles, including 4x4 vehicles, ambulances and other suitable vehicles, or impounded vehicles, for instance, that might meet those criteria. They could be set aside and a mechanism could be created through an appropriate charity for the donation of those vehicles. The Irish Defence Forces have this month contributed some important and well-defined functions through vehicles they have donated to their opposite numbers. The whole range of emergency medical services in Ukraine benefit from such access. If the committee could support, advise or develop a framework in which some of those sorts of vehicles were made available for transport to Ukraine, it would be very much appreciated.

I will ask Professor Fitzpatrick to talk about future funding and we can come back to the formal mechanisms the Deputy mentioned a moment ago.