John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Bernard Byrne, CEO of Allied Irish Banks, and his colleagues. In advance of the meeting we collated questions from members and submitted them to the bank. They will form the backdrop to our discussion.

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 joint committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to 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 asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person or an entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. I invite Mr. Byrne to make his opening statement.