I thank the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for coming in.

The Minister is welcome to the House. I think this is the first time I have addressed her since she was returned at the last election. I congratulate her on taking the foreign affairs, trade and defence portfolios.

Today marks the fourth anniversary of Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine and it is over 12 years since Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula. I am here to speak of the work of the UCD Ukraine trauma project, an Irish initiative that is saving lives every day in Ukraine, often within minutes of injury and sometimes within seconds. The key point is time is of the essence when it comes to injuries.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale illegal invasion of Ukraine, one of the greatest challenges facing Ukrainian medics has been the management of severe bleeding and major trauma. This is the leading cause of preventable death in this conflict. The techniques and equipment required for advanced haemorrhage control require access to the very early administration of tranexamic acid, TXA. Sadly, TXA remains very limited or unavailable in many parts of Ukraine. Where it is administered quickly, it can reduce mortality by 10% to 25%. This is not a statistic. It is a human being alive because the right intervention happened at the right moment.

In response to this need, volunteer advance paramedics and doctors from the Irish health service, led by Professor Chris Fitzpatrick and Professor Gerard Bury, both sitting in the Gallery today, have travelled to the Ukraine since November 2022, sharing their expertise through intensive two-day training courses. These front-line clinicians finish a shift in an Irish emergency department or an ambulance service and then give their own time at personal risk to support Ukrainian colleagues working under bombardment.

To date across nine training missions, the UCD Ukraine trauma project has trained more than 650 pre-hospital emergency responders, doctors, dentists, nurses, vets, academic instructors and paramedics from every front-line agency in Ukraine. Alongside this training, they have delivered over 1,700 advanced trauma kits, each containing tools needed to stop catastrophic bleeding and administer TXA in the field. The work does not replace Ukrainian expertise; it reinforces and enhances it. The feedback received is clear and humbling. The skills they teach are being used frequently and the equipment provided is saving lives. Demand for places on their courses far exceeds capacity to deliver them.

These wonderful people plan two missions in 2026, delivering six two-day courses to an additional 300 providers. That will mean 300 additional medics fighting to save the lives of brave Ukrainian forces. The projected cost of this work is €558,000 and they have submitted a detailed proposal to the Department of foreign affairs.

They assure me that they remain deeply grateful to the Minister's Department, the Irish public, the HSE and the Red Cross, whose generosity, channelled through the UCD foundation, has made every mission to date possible.

In December 2025, volunteers were honoured beyond measure when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the First Lady, Olena Zelenska, recognised the project during their visit to Dublin. Dr. Lyudmyla Zakharchenko, Professor Chris Fitzpatrick and Professor Gerard Bury accepted awards on behalf of more than 50 volunteers at that meeting. In his public remarks, President Zelenskyy asked them to continue and, if possible, to increase their efforts. They intend to honour that request. Their programme is evidenced-based and continually evolving. They are now developing new methodologies for delivering TXA that it is believed will significantly broaden its availability and impact across Ukraine. The roll-out of this innovation will form a central part of their 2026 mission.

Ireland has always stood with those who suffer the consequences of war, displacement and injustice. The UCD Ukraine trauma project is a uniquely Irish contribution. It is practical, compassionate and rooted in our national tradition of medical excellence and humanitarian solidarity. The Minister's support is invaluable to them. I ask her to ring-fence the €558,000 from all humanitarian aid that she intends to provide to Ukraine so this project can go ahead. I look forward to keeping her updated on the progress and many hopes for the successful delivery of the key elements in 2026.

One thing I should say is that it is not just soldiers now. Civilians are being murdered miles away from the front line. Civilians are suffering trauma.

I thank Senator Craughwell. It was the quickest six minutes ever. I call the Minister, Deputy McEntee.

I thank Senator Craughwell for raising this topic. I also acknowledge Professor Fitzpatrick and Professor Bury in the Gallery

As the Senator said, he is raising this topic on a particularly sombre day. I think we are all finding it hard to imagine it is four years since the first day of Russia's brutal, illegal and barbaric war, one it has been waging and is increasing in scale and volume. Since February 2022, in addition to military attacks, Russia has targeted Ukrainian energy, transport facilities, hospitals and schools, all with the intention of trying to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people and, indeed, trying to break the spirit of the EU as a whole and European citizens.

We have seen hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians killed, along with Russia's own soldiers that it is sending to the slaughter. Millions of people have now been left without heat and power in freezing winter weather, in temperatures of -24°C and -25°C. We can all see that the Ukrainian people and their spirit have not been broken, and neither has our commitment to support them. Only yesterday, I spoke with the Foreign Minister, Mr. Andrii Sybiha. Last week, I had an opportunity to meet and speak with the Defence Minister, Mr. Mykhailo Fedorov. At the Munich Security Conference recently, I met soldiers who were on the front line and who had taken time to come to relay exactly what is happening to them. At every step of the way, I have relayed Ireland's continued and absolute support for Ukraine and reaffirmed that we will support the country for as long as necessary. I know the Irish people also support this. I have also conveyed the need for the EU as a whole to remain absolutely steadfast in our support for Ukraine and the pressure that needs to continue to be placed on Russia.

I acknowledge and welcome the ongoing efforts to end Russia's war of aggression, including the efforts made by the US, the EU and many others to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. We will do this as an EU member state and through our participation in the coalition of the willing, which the Taoiseach participated in this morning. Russia's response to peace efforts to date has been to continue its missile attacks, to intensify the number of soldiers it is quite literally sending to the slaughter and to attack civilian infrastructure and towns, resulting in casualties and increased suffering. Russia can stop this at any time. It chooses not to; it chooses the path it has taken. This means more and more civilians are suffering.

In bringing this topic to the Seanad today, the Senator has highlighted and given me an opportunity to highlight not just the response from a Government perspective but also, thankfully, the huge amount of work our own citizens are doing. So much of it is unseen and unheard. I am pleased to say this is not the first time I am hearing of this project. I commend the absolutely invaluable work that is being done by Professor Fitzpatrick and Professor Bury and all those involved in the UCD Ukraine trauma project.

The valuable work of training pre-hospital civilian and military first responders is a further manifestation of the solidarity I have spoken about. The project is quite literally saving lives. As Senator Craughwell referenced, President Zelenskyy and the First Lady, Olena Zelenska, honoured the project's success with a Golden Heart award during their visit to Ireland last December. I take this opportunity again to congratulate the project on the work being done, with more than 650 people trained and nine missions. I am sure there will be many more missions to come for as long as they are needed. There have also been 1,700 advanced kits. All of this work is literally saving lives.

At my direction recently, officials at the Departments of education and Foreign Affairs and Trade have been engaging directly with the UCD Ukraine trauma project to discuss the work planned for 2026. We have been trying to examine how best we can help Ukraine as it continues to experience tremendous levels of need. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 10.8 million people will require humanitarian assistance. The work of this project, and the need for it, is absolutely essential.

The most recent updated joint rapid damage and needs assessment estimates that at the end of 2025, the total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine was almost $588 billion. However we can help, be it through humanitarian assistance, direct funding for critical infrastructure, the funding we have been providing for defence spending or the funding we need to provide for these types of projects, we will continue to provide this support and help.

Senator Craughwell will appreciate, and I know both gentleman in the Gallery will appreciate, that when we are providing this level of assistance, particularly directing it through our office of development, we have to ensure that all projects go through in-depth analysis and that we go through the engagement that is part of the process to make sure the money goes exactly where it is needed. I assure Senator Craughwell that we will engage closely with the UCD Ukraine trauma project along with our partners on its work and make sure we can continue this essential work.

I thank the Minister for a very comprehensive response. I am extremely proud of Ireland and the Irish people for what we have done for Ukraine but the basis of all humanitarian aid has to start with the preservation of human life. Human lives can be saved. We see the statistics are quite stark, with between 10% and 25% mortality catered for. The essence is to get the project up and running again. I implore the Minister to ring-fence €558,000 out of the money allocated to Ukraine for this project because it is delivering real results on the ground. The preservation of life is what it is all about. Now it is no longer just soldiers; through Putin's war crimes it is innocent civilians who are being killed in Kyiv, Donetsk and other parts of Ukraine. If the Minister can do this I would truly appreciate it.

I acknowledge the excellent work being done through the project. It is a perfect example of how quite literally civilians and citizens in Ireland have come together to provide support. We know there is a huge amount happening beyond this as well. There are over 100,000 Ukrainian citizens living in Ireland. They are in our communities, towns and villages. While we might be geographically the furthest from Ukraine and from where the war is happening, for all of us our hearts are very much connected to what is happening on the ground. This is why we see these types of responses and why we see those with such experience who want to give back and provide the support and help. From my perspective as Minister in the Department, where I can provide financial assistance to allow this to continue, it is something I absolutely want to do. I and the Department will continue to engage in with the project in supporting it and helping it to deliver this essential and, as Senator Craughwell said, life-saving support on the ground.