Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get this opportunity to support the people of Ukraine, who are going through a terrible time, and to support unequivocally all of those poor people who are suffering so much – men, women and children. We welcome those who are seeking refuge here in Ireland and those who have already arrived here safely, especially one girl I know of who arrived in Killarney late last night after travelling from the very first moment of the attack all the way to the Hungarian border, where she was met by her Killarney boyfriend. Her mother is following now. She had been in the car as well but the girl's grandmother got sick and was not able to make the journey, so her mother was not able to come any further.

We are asking what we can do. I thank the staff and management of Michael J. Hoare’s machinery sales in Killorglin, in particular Nuala, Timmy, Claire and all of those who are making a massive effort to collect at their premises the utensils, first-aid, bandages, non-perishable food and any other goods that would be of benefit. These are wonderful people who thought of this initiative off their own bat and they are doing their very best to help the Ukrainian people by collecting all of these things.

What guns, ammunition or artillery do we have in the Curragh that is not being used at the minute? I do not think it has been used for many years. Maybe we should think of sending this stuff off to people who are trying to defend their families, to the men out there trying to defend their children and their elderly parents. If there is no use for it, and I do not see that there is at the present time, I ask that we send it out there to them. It is frightening to think that we see 40 miles of Russian troops along the motorways into Kyiv and think of what they are going to do when they arrive there.

We need to hurt this fellow in his pocket, where it hurts him most, and we all support that initiative. Surely we must stop importing coal from Russia, cop on and have our own natural gas terminal in the Shannon estuary, and get energy from places that might make it readily available to us, so we will not be hurting people in other countries.

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