I welcome the new Irish ambassador to Sierra Leone, Dr. Sinéad Walsh. We are delighted to have her here this morning. When the committee visited Sierra Leone two years ago we did not have a full mission there at the time but we had a development aid office. We are delighted the office is now a full embassy. We commend the work the ambassador and her team have been doing in recent months, in particular in combatting and taking charge from an Irish point of view of the serious situation that evolved in west Africa in the past 12 months. I extend a warm welcome to the ambassador. I met her at Christmas. We are delighted to have her before the committee for this meeting, which will provide an opportunity for us to reflect on the ongoing work in Sierra Leone. The media focus may have moved on from Ebola according as other situations evolved around the world but there is still a challenge for the ambassador, NGOs, volunteers and those working on the ground to combat the Ebola virus. In the presentation we will hear from Dr. Walsh this morning, perhaps she could also outline the current position in the region in regard to Ebola? The format of the meeting is that we will hear an opening statement from the ambassador before a question and answer session with committee members. Before we begin, I remind members and those in the Visitors Gallery to ensure their mobile phones are switched off completely for the duration of the meeting as they do cause interference even on silent mode with the recording equipment in the committee rooms. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person or body outside the Houses or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to this committee. If they are directed by the Chairman to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter to only 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 are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person or persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. We are delighted to have Dr. Walsh present to outline the current situation. We have begun a series of meetings with ambassadors to outline their work and we intend to continue to do so. Different embassies have different roles. The embassy in Sierra Leone has a development role and other embassies are concerned with trade. I invite Dr. Walsh to commence her presentation.