Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is refusing to call it what it is, and that only encourages President Putin in terms of further aggression. I ask the Taoiseach to assure us that Ireland will continue to stand with the people of states threatened by Russian aggression. It is a very serious issue in that part of the world because they have experienced terrible events in the past and they do not want to go back to that.

My final question is on ebola in west Africa. Europe and the developed states have not responded with the urgency necessary from the outset of this crisis. It is an appalling, devastating crisis, not only in terms of ebola itself. The entire public health system in Sierra Leone, west Africa and across the entire Continent is in danger of collapsing. There will be far more deaths from malaria, maternal mortality and other conditions because people are no longer turning up to hospitals. Hospitals are closing. Health staff have left because of the impact of ebola. People are not taking medicines or going onto the system. I acknowledge that the Government has donated €600,000. He might see if Irish Aid could do more and if the public health community in Ireland could meet with a view to determining if there is anything they could do on a more practical level to assist the international effort.

This is a public health crisis of extraordinary consequence and demands a far greater international response then it has received to date.

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