Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Air Corps is 100 years old today. They have just flown over the city of Dublin and out to south Dublin. The Air Corps has never been found wanting in its 100-year history. Any time it was called upon for mercy flights, or to carry out vital operations to deal with forest fires and so on, it is never ever found wanting. It would be a matter of great regret to me that it will not be forming part of the next search and rescue contract for this country because that is a vital service in which we should have the Air Corps involved.

I have spoken quite a lot over the years about the way our Defence Forces are treated, terms and conditions of employment and so on. I know the Deputy Leader wore the uniform herself and will agree with me. Despite all of those things, it is a wonderful career. Young men and women should aspire to become a part of it. The benefit accruing from service far outweighs the difficulties. I hope that we will see a change in the treatment of the Defence Forces in the immediate future.

On the issue of people coming from Ukraine, myself and Deputy Cathal Berry went to the border in Poland. I have to compliment the Polish people. It was just amazing to see. I came across four young women in a bus station sitting on the ground with a load of sweets in front of them. I asked them who they were with. They said they had just finished work a couple of hours earlier.They had pooled what money they had together and bought some sweets because there were a lot of kids around. The kids were coming up, taking what they wanted and walking away. It was so moving to watch.

I spoke to the Deputy Leader yesterday about my fear that, with thousands of people crossing the borders and hundreds of thousands of people moving through Ukraine and into Poland, Moldova, Romania and so on, there is a danger of young people being trafficked. That is something we have to be extremely vigilant about. We have seen ten-year-old children sent to relatives with notes on their hands. They are travelling alone by train. I have a particular fear for young girls travelling alone. In the train stations in Poland, people can volunteer to take refugees to anywhere in Europe. One finds people standing there with signs offering free trips to Germany, France or wherever. The Poles are doing a fantastic job but that does not mean there will not be an oddball in the pile every now and then. We need to be extremely vigilant in that area with regard to young people coming into this country. If there are young men or young women arriving with people who do not appear to be their relatives, we need to be very careful. I compliment the Irish people but I advise caution with regard to the rush to provide accommodation and so on. It is a long-term commitment. One's home is one's castle and the moment one opens it to somebody else, one is committing for at least six months. People need to be aware of that. They need to be careful and to be sure they know what they are committing to.