Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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I thank everyone for coming in today. Maith sibh go léir. We can be proud of, and grateful for, the expertise they have shared with the world. There is so much war going on at the moment and with the jingoism behind war, it is easy to forget how fragile humanity is and humans are when they are in the firing line of all this weaponry made by the weapons industry. I am glad that the witnesses' expertise and skill is being used for good. It is nice that Ireland plays some part in that regard.

Our witnesses were talking about their plan to send one Hospitainer to Gaza and said they might follow it up. It is an amazing thing that the human spirit keeps going. The hospitals that Gaza already had were deliberately attacked and destroyed and yet people such as our witnesses can say that we will get another hospital in there. That is what keeps the human spirit going.

The witnesses' requests are modest considering the amount of work they do. The Ukrainian ambassador was before the committee last week and I talked to her about the psychological services on offer. The witnesses are here this week. In respect of a formal mechanism for Irish medical professionals, for how long do medical professionals go away? Is it for a month or six months? How do other countries frame that?

I ask the witnesses to give us a bit more detail on what they would like, given that they said this is something the committee could look at. A formal system for medics to volunteer would be a great idea. They would learn a lot from the experience, particularly when working in those kinds of conditions. I ask for more detail on what works in other countries.