I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I agree that Russia stands condemned in the international court of opinion for its appalling atrocities against the civilian population of Ukraine and for its unjustifiable and unprovoked war on Ukraine, its territorial integrity and its sovereignty. Everybody else tried everything to stop Russia going to war. Leading NATO countries the Deputy decries on an ongoing basis and accuses of being militarist in their orientation did everything they could to say to President Putin…

That should not be done now. We need to concentrate on the war effort in terms of helping people to come out of that and stopping the war. Supporting the people of Ukraine should be our immediate priority, rather than getting, if you like, diverted on a debate around military neutrality and so on. It has not stopped anything we need to do with our European colleagues in respect of helping Ukraine.

We were recently elected to the United Nations Security Council, which is about as good a benchmark for our credibility in the international world as anything I can think of. That is because we have pursued an independent foreign policy as members of the European Union, the greatest characteristic of which has probably been our nuclear non-proliferation initiatives. This began with the then Minister for External Affairs, Frank Aiken, as part of the Irish resolutions at the UN in the 1950s. He was a true architect o…

-----in respect of what has now happened.

I thank the Deputy for raising this suggestion. We have considered this in Government and I agree with the Deputy. As a result of the appalling situation and war in Ukraine, we have evolved our tone and theme of St. Patrick’s Day next week from an overt focus on Ireland to a broader focus on the fact Ireland is an active, engaged and fully committed member of the international community that stands by democracy, the rule of law and human rights. We will use St. Patrick's Day and that week basically to highlight our…

I thank the Deputy for raising those issues. We have maintained contact with the Ukrainian Government. I spoke last week to the Prime Minister, Mr. Denys Shmyhal. On behalf of everybody, I committed our continued humanitarian support and, in terms of the sanctions, our full support of a very proactive policy on sanctions to act not just as a deterrent but to try to put pressure on the Russian regime to end the war, have a complete cessation of violence and to allow dialogue to happen to create an environment for pe…

This is an informal meeting.

As I said to Deputy McDonald earlier, the Government is aware of the issues with regard to rising fuel prices and acknowledges the enormous impact these increases in energy prices are having on people in terms of going to work, heating their homes and so on. The matter is under active consideration by the Government.

The Government will respond. To respond to Deputy Mattie McGrath, we are certainly not sleepwalking into this. This war is 13 days old. It is having, and will continue to have-----

The Government responded to the cycle of inflation induced by the pandemic with a budget package of €500 million. The war is going to mean a lot more inflation. It will mean that life will not be quite the same as we thought it would be, at least for 2022. That is all I am saying.

The Government will respond to this. To respond to Deputy Barry's comments, this is an informal meeting of the European Council hosted by the French Presidency. Conclusions will not be drawn from it. I would not be as conspiratorial as the Deputy about it. On the one hand, it will deal with a number of issues pertaining to the strategic compass. On the following day, the economic repercussions of the war and of the Covid pandemic and the economic future of Europe will be discussed. It will be a general discussion a…

We facilitated that Act on Second Stage. I have no issue with lifting-----

Hold on a second. Those involved are not convinced that the Act is perfect or will do what it says on the tin.

Leaving that to one side, we have no objection to facilitating its passage. I think the Deputy wants pre-legislative scrutiny waived and he will meet the Minister tomorrow to discuss that. I do not have an issue with that now. Deputy Joan Collins should bring the matter she raised forward in Private Members' time.

Every week there are calls for debates on a range of issues and we need to allow Government time for legislation.

It is a tight week and everybody wants statements on different items. It happens every day in the Dáil.

The Minister will bring this to the Government in the coming weeks and we will have a decision on that.

First, I want to say in passing that I think we need to reflect on what we just did, in such an enclosed environment and with so many people, in terms of a roll-call vote. It is farcical in itself but makes no sense at all from a Covid perspective. Covid has not gone away. I just have to say that.

It is something we should reflect on. I just had to get it off my chest because I found it incredible what we did, as a collective group in an enclosed space, when we have technology available to vote and enable a vote to be done. We really should cop on a small bit. In regard to the biggest humanitarian crisis we have seen since the Second World War because of the war on Ukraine, every effort will be made by the Government to co-ordinate and do what we can. There are no immediate answers, but what it will mean is …

The Minister for Health is opening several endometriosis specialist centres in 2022 as part of an overall women's health strategy that will see an allocation of up to €30 million-odd, and €48 million in a full year, to women's health, with a particular focus on endometriosis as well as other issues.