Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the issues raised by Deputies Boyd Barrett and Ó Murchú, I have not seen the petition from the actors but I have read about it in the news. As the Deputies pointed out, a lot of taxpayers' money goes into the film and audiovisual sector, sometimes through grants and sometimes through Screen Ireland, often through tax incentives. With that in mind, it is only right that people who work in the sector, whether actors, writers, performers, cameramen, stage crews or riggers, should have decent terms and conditions. I have spoken about this with the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. The suggestion to establish a stakeholder forum as the next step is a good one and I will ask the Minister to bring it forward.

On Deputy Paul Murphy’s question, our Defence Forces are taking part in the EU military assistance mission in support of Ukraine, EUMAM. It is not the first training mission we are involved in. We were involved in one in Mali, for example, which I was able to visit some years ago. It is providing training for Ukrainian forces in areas such as de-mining because Russia has mined a huge part of southern Ukraine. That is presumably with a view to trying to hold on to it, given that Russia has annexed large parts of Ukraine. It is also providing training in firearms use. Firearms can be used in a defensive manner. We do not believe Ukrainian troops will invade Russia but quite the opposite. Ukrainian troops are defending their lands, their homes, their democracy, their independence and their neighbours.

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