Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have read the 11 pages of conclusions following the recent European Council meeting and I have less than two minutes so I will just pick out a couple of points. It is clear from the meeting that the EU recognises that we have a cost-of-living crisis and that a significant part of this is energy costs. While the EU is willing to act we need clarity on how it will do so as soon as possible. In the meantime, the Government must act to alleviate the pressure people are under. I spoke to a lady yesterday who had just received her two-month electricity bill and it came to €490. She is genuinely fearful for her family's solvency and if a similar bill comes next time she does not know what she will do. She is not alone. The Government must stop offering ridiculous money-saving suggestions if it will not put its money where its mouth is.

The European Council also discussed the worsening situation in Ukraine. I would like to express my condemnation of the 9 March Russian air strike on the maternity hospital in Mariupol. Russian soldiers have forcibly deported the surviving staff and patients of the hospital, sending more than 70 people into Russia. Under the Geneva Conventions, it is a war crime for an occupying power to deport people to any other country during an international conflict. The perpetrators must be held to account for this atrocity and for their deliberate targeting of the most vulnerable in Ukrainian society. We need to send a message that Russian aggression will not be tolerated and that message should be sent home to Russia, along with the Russian ambassador.

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