Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are in public session. I remind members, visitors and people in the Visitors Gallery to ensure their mobile telephones are switched off for the duration of the meeting as they interfere with the broadcasting equipment, even when in silent mode.

Members are reminded of the long-standing practice that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the House or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I welcome the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor; the Minister of State with responsibility for training and skills, Deputy John Halligan, who is from my own constituency; and the Minister of State with responsibility for business and employment, Deputy Pat Breen. On behalf of the committee, I congratulate you all on your appointment and wish you well in your new posts. I also welcome the Department officials and thank them for the provision of the briefing material, which has been circulated to committee members.

Based on this information, the secretariat has prepared a briefing document which has been circulated to members and the Department. As agreed to in private session, the meeting will follow the following structure. A fixed time will be allocated to consider each programme, A to D, with the option of returning to particular programmes after each has been gone through, if issues remain outstanding. This will allow members with an interest in a particular programme to schedule their time and ensure the committee will give consideration to all programmes.

On programme A, jobs and enterprise, the Minister, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, will make a brief opening statement, to include the following points: whether there are emerging pressures likely to impact on departmental performance or expenditure in 2016; whether there are concerns about performance or service delivery in particular areas to the extent that there is a possibility that funding allocated to particular areas will not be fully spent by year-end; the areas involved and the reasons for the possible savings or underspend; and whether reallocation of funds to, from or within the programme has taken place or been completed. I will then take questions from members who will be invited to speak in the order in which they indicate on each programme.

On programme B, innovation, the Minister of State with responsibility for training and skills, Deputy John Halligan, who has specific responsibilities which span the programme will make a brief statement and the meeting will then proceed in the same way as for programme A. On programme C, regulation, the Minister of State with responsibility for business and employment, Deputy Pat Breen, who has specific responsibilities which span programmes A and C will make a brief statement on key elements with his remit in the context of regulation. The meeting will then proceed in the same way as for programmes A and B. We will then move to questions on programme D, appropriations-in-aid, if any. Individual programmes may be revisited in turn if there are issues outstanding. I ask members, when putting questions, to indicate the particular subhead or page in the departmental briefing material to which they are referring. Is that agreed? Agreed.