I join others in asking for a debate on the crisis facing the agricultural sector. It would be appropriate if we had the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine before us in the House. I very much welcome the decision of the Government yesterday to set aside up to €12 million to assist farmers generally in meeting the challenges faced with the crisis in the grain supply. The encouragement of the Government in that regard is helpful, and I am sure that €12 million will bear fruit.

Notwithstanding that, considering the critical importance of our agricultural sector in terms of food security and the uninterrupted supply of food, it is absolutely important that we address all of the aspects of farming. There is an impact on the dairy sector. The inability to import grain from Ukraine and Russia in the back end of this year will impact on the liquid milk market. Farmers may not be able to milk year round. The cost of diesel, fertiliser and inputs generally will have a very significant impact on the beef sector and the ability to grow grass at an affordable price. To be sure, milk and beef prices are holding their own and have improved in the marketplace. However, any increases that have been made in recent weeks and months are completely wiped out now by the increase in the cost of inputs.

If we are to have a strategic approach here, and I know that is the focus of the Minister, we need to have an open and frank debate here. There is no point addressing this crisis at the back end of the year in September, when we discover we do not have enough grass and grain to feed our cattle through the winter to produce beef and milk and we do not have the supplies to meet our own demands and the demands of elsewhere in Europe. Now is the time before the growing season starts. We can plan ahead. It is not just about money, although money is a very important part of it. It is about having a strategy to address the crisis we see emerging. That is why it would be very important to have a debate in this House at the earliest possible opportunity.

I recognise the Irish Air Corps and congratulate it on its centenary. Brigadier General Rory O’Connor and the more than 700 personnel who work within the Air Corps deserve our recognition for the good work they do. They have a history they can be very much proud of and, in the context of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, a future they can look forward to. To a large extent, the Air Corps has been underutilised. We look at, as a particular example, the lack of capacity we have as a nation in terms of radar detection of overflights of Ireland, surveillance flights and the broader extension of surveillance of our maritime exclusive economic zone. This is the future the Air Corps can look forward to. While it consolidates its past, it can look into a future where it will be of huge service to the Irish people and a tremendously important component of the Defence Forces. Unfortunately, I missed the flyover because I was in the Chamber, but it is entirely appropriate they should fly over Dublin to mark that centenary. I congratulate them and look forward to its future.

I also raise the issue of Ukrainian refugees, particularly people trafficking. It is distressing to hear stories of children being abducted from Ukraine and taken to Russia without any explanation of where they have gone or where they are now. This is another major problem and new frontier that has been crossed in this war we all hoped and thought would never happen on European soil again. For those children entering the European Union and especially for those children entering Ireland, we must do everything we can to ensure they are safe in every possible respect. There can be no question of trafficking on this island or in the European Union and we must do everything we can to ensure that does not happen.