Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are in public session. Will those present check their mobile phones and ensure they are switched off? It is no good switching them to silent mode because they can still can interfere with the broadcasting equipment and we do not want that to happen.

On behalf of the committee, I welcome back Ms Barbara Nolan, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Ireland. She has been before the committee on many occasions so she knows the drill. Today, we will be discussing the refugee crisis in the EU. We have all watched it unfold over the summer months and members will recall that we had a special meeting in April, attended by Mr. Peter Sutherland, UN Special Representative on Migration, to discuss this issue. On that day, we were also joined by the Italian ambassador who will also address us later today. That gave us a useful insight into the situation in April but, of course, things have moved on significantly since then. Members will also recall that following our April meeting, we attended a meeting of COSAC in Riga in June and pushed a number of recommendations that arose from our meeting with the ambassador and Mr. Sutherland. I am glad to say that some of those recommendations were accepted. Today, we look forward to discussing the EU's response to the crisis to date and its future plans. We are, therefore, looking forward to hearing about both from Ms Nolan.

Before we begin, I remind members of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person or persons outside the Houses or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I draw the attention of the witness to the fact that 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 a witness is directed by the committee to cease giving evidence on a particular subject and the witness continues to do so, the witness is entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of his or her evidence. Witnesses are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and they are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not criticise or make charges against an entity or an individual either by name or in such a way as to make them identifiable.

I call Ms Barbara Nolan.