Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Before we begin, I remind everybody to turn off his or her mobile phones because they affect the broadcasting of the meeting. Apologies have been received from the Chairman, Deputy Dominic Hannigan, and Deputy Seán Crowe.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, who has special responsibility for European affairs for this special meeting ahead of the General Affairs Council meeting which is due to take place next week, on 22 October. As members will be aware, the meeting is expected to prepare the ground for the October European Council meeting which will have a particular focus on the digital single market. It is also expected to discuss the European semester. As our colleagues will be aware, Ireland has been involved in that process, with our budget being announced earlier this week. It will be interesting to see how we feed into the discussions in the European Union and hear about progress in other member states. Another issue to be discussed is Ireland's eagerly anticipated exit from the bailout programme in December. The enlargement negotiations with Turkey are also to be discussed.