Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On International Women's Day, it is a sad state of affairs that 22 million women on the Continent of Europe are fleeing for their lives and those of their children at the behest of a brutal dictator. At the weekend I had the privilege of being invited to Ukraine by President Zelensky's party. I travelled with Billy Kelleher MEP to Lviv. We had an invitation to see at first hand the crisis on the other side of the border. It would be an understatement to say that the scenes there are heart wrenching. For miles, there are people queuing to cross the border on foot and there are probably up to 20 km of cars with people there for days. It really is a testament to the strength of their character that they have kept it together. I have heard other world leaders suggest that it will not remain like that. I would not be surprised. It is a stretch to expect people to remain calm in these very difficult circumstances.

What needs to happen? Europe needs to put in more effort on both sides of the border. The Polish Government is working well once people get across the border. It has the appropriate infrastructure in place to process and move people on to various locations to which they might want to go or be housed. However, on the Ukrainian side, it is devastating. The temperatures are still very low. It is -5 °C at night. Thankfully it was not snowing on Sunday and Monday but you cannot expect women and children to stand for a day and a half in -5 °C. I do not think it is something that anyone here would ever want to contemplate. It is not just women and children. It is aged men and women as well. Probably the most heart wrenching thing is to see elderly mothers pushing clearly physically disabled children in wheelchairs for days. There is a requirement on us to act. I would ask the Leas Cathaoirleach to bear with me for a second. The governor of Lviv oblast and the mayor of Lviv were anxious that we would communicate that they are grateful but that they want continued support, not just short-term support. They want more direct support and financial aid to purchase humanitarian equipment that is needed, including baby food of all sorts. They recognise Ireland's neutrality so they know we will not provide lethal aid but they want non-lethal aid like helmets, life vests and other non-lethal equipment. There is a recognition that all countries bordering Ukraine have done well in assisting but that more can be done. It is devastating that we left to hear that the evacuation corridor from Mariupol, which had been expected to give some semblance of relief to people there, was mined and bombed by the Russians. That gives one to understand what devastation is happening.