Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister of State well. I see his arm is in a sling. I did not notice it last week, in case he thinks I was inadvertently avoiding it. I do not know cad a tharla but I hope he will be better soon. I do not know if he is in a fit condition to be sent out to use those weapons Deputy Healy-Rae is talking about.

Last Sunday - Dé Domhnaigh seo caite - in Cahir - Cathair Dún Iascaigh - Josephine Casey, Patsy McGurk, Fidelma Nugent, Sergeant Ray Moloney and many others organised a wonderful event in music, song and chant for Ukrainian people and the many other nationalities and newcomers we have in our State. They are not new anymore and one family I met there now has four generations in Ireland. They are playing their part here in Ireland and we must play our part to support them. It was a wonderful, spirited occasion and I salute the companies involved.

In Seachtain na Gaeilge, we have the adage of meitheal and ní neart go cur le chéile. It is very important and we have seen it in every parish, with people organising and coming together to see what we can do. We are a neutral country but we can provide the medicines.

I am a diabetic and I have insulin. We just take it for granted. To think that they might only have two or three days' supply is unthinkable. What is happening is unspeakable. I compliment Deputy Michael Collins and Valerie in his office and other staff on the heroic efforts that they made over the weekend to get that buachaill óg back here to Ireland. Hopefully he will be able to get a donor now. He had a donor where he was but they made the decision that they had to send him away. And that hospital where he was going to have his operation was actually bombed either today or last night.

How horrific can it be? Man's inhumanity to man. We have to do what we can with financial support but also with these goods. In every parish, people are offering trucks and to drive them, keeping them safe while they are being filled and when they are full, sending them out to eastern Europe into the jaws of war. It is so important.

We must send a signal to the rest of the world that war is not the answer to anything. We must support those people. Many of them have being living here for four generations. Many of them are welcome. There are issues about housing our own people; I raised them earlier. There are people saying this, that and the other, but it is 90 days for the moment. It might be much longer. In the spirit of compassion, integrity and decency, Irish people will put them up in community halls, in their homes or wherever. We did it for Kosovo and other places. I have fond memories of that. We were recognised for doing that. That is the role we must play. I do not support calls to dismiss the Russian ambassador. We have Irish citizens in Russia and there are many Russian people here who have nothing to do with this horrible war. We should keep the lines of communication open. I thank the Ukrainian ambassador. He was here last week and he helped Deputy Michael Collins earlier today with translating and other issues because all the medical records are in a different language. We must do what we can. Ní neart go cur le chéile.

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