Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit freisin sa díospóireacht tábhachtach seo. I welcome this report. I also congratulate my colleagues, Senators O'Loughlin, Joe O'Reilly and Gavan and all those who are part of the Irish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. They have done an enormous amount of work. We can take great pride in Ireland's response to this crisis. I mean the way that Ireland has dealt with it not just in terms of its parliamentarians but also in terms of our Government and our citizens who work within the Council of Europe. I refer, for example, to Ms Justice O'Leary, who has been mentioned a number of times already. We have good cause to be proud of their role but also of the commitment that we, as a country, have shown to the Council of Europe, which is tremendously important.

I am glad that this Chamber, country and Government have been extremely strong on the question of Ukraine. I had the privilege of visiting Ukraine about a year ago in the aftermath of the initial invasions, particularly towards Kyiv, and meeting people who had fought on the ground there, who had seen that fighting and had suffered directly. It was the first time that I genuinely felt that Ukraine could win this war. I will talk about that matter in a moment. Since then, other parliamentarians have visited Ukraine. It is tremendously important that the leader of our Government visited Ukraine as well and that we have shown our commitment in this regard. Equally, when four Ukrainians MPs came to this Chamber to speak to us, it was an extremely important gesture and an extension of the hand of friendship and solidarity that reflects well on every parliamentarian in this country. We have proud record in that regard.

My comments will differ from those of Senator Mullen. I wish to express my awe at how he managed to shoehorn into this debate a speech on the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill, which is unrelated. We will have time to discuss that legislation at a later date.It is not the case that the media are not covering it. I was on the radio to address this yesterday and will be on the radio tomorrow morning too. That is a different issue.