Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----and the opportunity to express our disgust at the slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and our revulsion at the fact that the person responsible for that atrocity is still striding the world like a colossus and being greeted by international statespeople.

We should also make time to debate what is happening to the Republic of Ukraine. It is wrong that the Russian Federation should use the fact that it built a bridge from Crimea to the mainland of Russia as a pretext to cut off access to the ports of Ukraine. Somebody in this Legislature should stand up and say those actions are wrong and inform Putin that those standards of behaviour are unacceptable. Unless those comments are made repeatedly, until there are resolutions of this House condemning these actions and until the timidity of Iveagh House disappears and voices are clearly expressed on these types of issues, these thugs internationally take acquiescence as approval. I ask the Deputy Leader to make time available for us to discuss these important issues.We are not like The Skibbereen Eagle. This is a legislative Chamber in one of the member states of the European Union. As such, we should have the bravery and self-respect to speak our mind on these issues and collectively condemn what requires to be condemned, rather than remain mute and watch these matters as consumers of news and readers of newspapers.