Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the new members of the joint committee, Deputies Dinny McGinley and Maureen O'Sullivan. We look forward to working closely with them on all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.
I am pleased to welcome Ms Karen Charnley, programme manager, All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care. The institute was established in 2010 and has four main programme areas, namely, research, education, policy and practice, and communication. Ms Charnley is here to inform us about its work on an all-island basis to improve the experience of palliative care for individuals and families. I had the pleasure of launching its children's and young person's website in late October. The website is primarily aimed at assisting parents, guardians, carers and the wider public in understanding the nature of palliative care for children by filtering the wide range of information available on the Internet. This is just one example of the work being done by the institute across the island of Ireland. Members of the committee are supportive of efforts to utilise resources on an all-Ireland, cross-Border basis in key strategic areas. Organisations such as the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care make sense in this regard and I look forward to hearing what Ms Charnley has to say about the cross-Border aspects of her work.
By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. If they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against a Member of either House of the Oireachtas, a person outside the Houses or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. Members are reminded of the long-standing ruling of the Chair to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.
I invite Ms Charnley to make her opening presentation.