Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The joint committee is now in public session. I remind Deputies O'Reilly and others to please switch off their mobile phones. I include those in the Gallery. It is not good enough to put them to silent mode and they must be switched off.

I welcome Deputy Paschal Donohoe, the Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs. The Minister of State will be attending the General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels next Tuesday. The Council is expected to prepare the ground for the European Council meeting on 19 and 20 December 2013. The General Affairs Council will also continue preparations for next year's European Semester. Ireland will fully participate in the European Semester next year following the successful completion of our EU-IMF programme next month, as announced by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste earlier today in the Dáil.

I invite the Minister of State to make his opening remarks.