Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the committee, I welcome Mr. Kevin Cardiff who is the Irish member of the European Court of Auditors. It is the independent external audit institution of the EU. In its annual report on the EU budget, the court gives its opinion on the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the transactions that underline them. This year, the court has made interesting comments on strategically aligning and managing the EU budget and we look forward to discussing them with Mr. Cardiff. Members travelled to Luxembourg to visit the court two years ago when we met both Mr. Cardiff and Mr. Fennessy and I am delighted they are present. It was an interesting visit to the court and we learned a great deal about its workings. We are looking forward to hearing about the annual report.

Before we proceed, 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 either 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 the committee. If witnesses are directed by the Chairman to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and they continue to do so, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their 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, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person, persons, or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.

I invite Mr. Cardiff to make his opening remarks.