Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Estonian ambassador. We are all standing with Ukraine. When we woke up this morning there was a dark shadow over all of us. I listened to the Ukrainian ambassador who was in tears on "Morning Ireland". Her voice was shaking because she was talking about her family. We are all standing strong for Ukraine today. We must remember how we got here. History will only reflect on how we got to this point. Have we sleepwalked into this situation just so we can be a little richer in the West? There are trade deals with questionable countries. Are we doing the right thing just to be a little bit richer? We need to re-evaluate what we are doing when we work with countries that have huge question marks over their human rights records.

Russia is invading an independent sovereign state and causing loss of life. We have to listen and think about the ripple effect of what has happened, not only in Ukraine and eastern Europe. We must think about the legacy this will leave for children and families, the families that will be displaced and the displacement of all of the normal rites of passage people could possibly miss out on. As a mother standing here, I am transferring myself to the position of being a mother in Ukraine. It must be a desperate sick feeling to hear the bombs going off. As I stand here, I think about our friends in Ukraine, all the families in Ukraine and the Ukrainian family across the world.