Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. The Cathaoirleach, other Members of the Dáil and Seanad and I met a delegation from the Ukrainian Parliament yesterday. One of the things the delegation emphasised to us was something of which we are all well aware, namely, the difficulty those people face with a reduction in energy grid capacity. It is under enormous pressure. The country needs generators and transformers. In his deliberations with other Heads of Government at formal and informal meetings, I would like the Taoiseach to keep that particular issue on the agenda as much as possible, as well as all of the other important issues.

The delegation was very pleased that we were one of the first countries to emphasise the need to fast-track membership of the European Union for Ukraine. That is particularly important and it is a policy we should keep driving as much as possible with the new Commission and at Heads of Government level. Monitoring of sanctions against Russia is essential. A recent programme on a British television channel showed that Russian products are coming into Europe and are making huge profits for the Russian Government, oligarchs and others.

Europe must be very vigilant in ensuring the sanctions imposed are implemented in full and have the desired effect on Russia.

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