Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have received apologies from Deputy Timmy Dooley and Senator Terry Leyden. I remind members and guests that they need to switch off their mobile phones fully; it is not sufficient to leave them in silent mode.

Today there will be two separate sessions, the first of which, which will conclude at 3 p.m., is with the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Dara Murphy, who will discuss Ireland's position on the agenda items for the forthcoming General Affairs Council, including the European semester and the Government's reaction to the European Commission's winter economic report. He will also update us on the situation with respect to Greece.

In the second session we will be joined by Sir Bill Cash, MP, chairman of the committee on EU scrutiny in the House of Commons. He will help us in our continuing discussions on a potential Brexit. We will focus on UK politics surrounding the issue. That session will start at 3 p.m. or earlier, depending on how we get on in the first.

On behalf of the joint committee, I welcome the Minister of State and invite him to make his opening remarks.