Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The detention and trial of Ms Tymoshenko has given rise to considerable concern about the conditions of her detention. She was sentenced on 11 October 2011 to seven years in prison and was the subject of a three-year ban on holding high public office. She was also subject to an order to repay €130 million to the state-owned gas company, having been convicted of exceeding her authority as Prime Minister when concluding a gas deal with Russia in 2009. I do not have any plans to travel to the Ukraine to attend any of the football games. We are making arrangements for consular services to be provided because we expect there will be a significant number of Irish fans travelling to the Ukraine if we qualify from the first round. We are making arrangements to have consular services there to support and to be of assistance to the fans.

We must discuss with the Ukraine issues of a bilateral nature and issues in the context of the chairmanship of the OSCE. At some stage this year it is possible that I may travel to Ukraine to conduct business.

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