Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)

I second the proposal by Senator Rabbitte that No. 12 be taken before No. 1. I welcome the inclusion of this Bill on the Order Paper and compliment and thank Senator Rabbitte, who did all the spade work on it. I am honoured to have my name attached to the Bill. I was late to the party, but I am delighted. I live on the banks of the River Brosna, which is a tributary of the Shannon. It is vital that the legislation is updated from the late 1920s or early 1930s version to reflect modern-day Ireland and the fact that we are now dealing with different rainfall types and so on. I will not say anything further until the Bill is before the House. I hope the Senator's proposal can be accepted.

I want to be associated with the comments made by previous speakers regarding this historic and momentous day. I take this opportunity to say we should not forget the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, who went about her own business today. They say that behind every successful man there is a very strong and successful woman. The First Lady had meetings today on the side as well. That is what I like to see about working towards the future. She met with our colleague, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy James Lawless, and they signed a memorandum of understanding between UCC and University College Galway and the Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies. UCD also signed a letter of intent at that meeting. If nothing else, that will create possibilities for the future. It is about education and, hopefully, about young people getting back to normal. It is also about studying and sharing, with students from Ireland going there and students from Ukraine coming here. We have to think positively about the present and the future.

I wish them every success in the coming days. Peace is important. We all cherish and want peace, but not at any price. President Zelenskyy has a tough battle ahead to get what Ukrainians will consider a good deal for peace. I wish him every success. As I say, we will not leave his good lady, Olena, out of the equation.