Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The draft minutes of the meeting on 18 June have been circulated to members. Are they agreed? Agreed. I remind members, witnesses and those in the Gallery to ensure their mobile phones are switched off completely for the duration of the meeting, as they interfere with the recording equipment in the committee room even when in silent mode.

I extend a warm welcome to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, and his officials. The Tánaiste has attended our meetings many times in the past three years. Our proceedings have always been both cordial and productive. We look forward to hearing his views on the forthcoming Foreign Affairs Council meeting, particularly on the recent events in Iraq and the volatile situation in eastern Ukraine, and we would like to hear how Ireland and the EU plan to support stability in Ukraine. While the principle reason for his attendance today is to discuss the Foreign Affairs Council meeting he attended on Monday last, members will also be aware the Tánaiste was in Washington lobbying on behalf of the 50,000 or so undocumented Irish people living illegally in the United States. If it is at all possible we would like to hear how that went, as the committee has taken a very keen interest in the area and has visited the United States on a number of occasions to push for immigration reform. I know this has also been very high on the Minister's agenda in the past number of months.

I call on the Tánaiste to make his presentation, to be followed by questions on the important meeting that took place in Luxembourg.