Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I extend our sympathies to our colleague Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee on the passing of her mother, Mary, at the very untimely age of 67. Our deepest sympathy to Lorraine, to her dad, Mossie, and to all her family.

There will be further opportunities to speak about the wonderful and great man that Martin Mansergh was, and my colleague Senator Goldsboro, will speak further about him. From all of the conversations I had with Martin over the years him and from what I heard, I know he was of the view that the greatest honour he ever had was when the people of South Tipperary elected him. He had an incredible career and had a great future ahead of him in the context of the work he was doing. He really believed in the power of politics and of public representation. That is his greatest legacy in many ways. I wish simply to say that we are bereft. He was the best of us in Fianna Fáil and the best of us in the country also. My very deepest sympathy to Liz and all the family.

I welcome the statement that came from Washington overnight on the agreement between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu on the 20-point peace plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza. The key elements include what all of us in this House have called for many times, namely an immediate ceasefire, the return of the hostages and full access to allow for the provision of humanitarian. Strong support has been shown for the plan all over the world already. Let us hope and pray that this is the start of the end of this shocking war.

I returned from Ukraine in the early hours of this morning. I had the opportunity to participate in an EU delegation to show solidarity, to bear witness and to show support for Ukraine in terms of it becoming a member of the EU.With the good news coming from Moldova that the pro-European party was elected, I do believe we are getting on the right track. Let me give testament to the strength and the resilience of the Ukrainian people. These are evident if you go to see places like Bucha, where 500 people were buried in a mass grave only three years ago. We think this is something from the First World War or the Second World War. The night we stayed in Kyiv saw more shelling than any other over recent years. Spending a night in a bomb shelter made me recognise that this is the lived reality of people. At every level we need to support the Ukrainian people.

Downstairs in the coffee dock, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland is hosting a coffee and tea briefing. I would really appreciate it if Members of all parties and none took the opportunity to drop down and talk about what we need to do in the budget on 7 October to support the society.