Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The proposition advanced by Deputy Andrews is absolutely necessary. We have all seen the European Union as a bright light in the sense of democracy and rights, but that means we have to be that bastion throughout the world. It means we have to engage with other states and other countries on that basis. At this point in time, we have failed the Palestinian people and that needs to be rectified. The Government needs to bring this to the attention of the powers-that-be in Europe. It is absolutely necessary.

On the Ukrainian crisis, we all know we are dealing with a brutal regime in Russia. We know about the disgraceful war criminality - it is beyond warmongering - that has been carried out by that regime. The conditions of that war are not going particularly well at this point for Vladimir Putin. However, the one thing he has in play is the possibility of economic carnage. We really need the European Union to get to grips with the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis. We are now talking about caps and windfall taxes. We need to ensure we are sufficiently imaginative because if we do not protect our people and our citizens, the impact is going to be huge in economic terms and in societal terms. That is what we have to do to protect our people.

It is fair to say that across Europe, certain parties have left room open for certain types of right-wing parties such as that associated with Marine Le Pen in France. The real protection against that is to look after the needs and wants of our people. That is an absolute necessity.

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