Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before proceeding, I invite members to turn off their mobile phones. The purpose of this part of our meeting is to conduct pre-committee scrutiny of the Employment Equality (Abolition of Mandatory Retirement Age) Bill 2016, sponsored by Deputy John Brady. I welcome Deputy Brady. The format of the meeting is that I will invite Deputy Brady to brief the committee on the Bill. He will present a brief opening statement and I will then open the meeting for general discussion, questions and answers. The officials are distributing a replacement opening statement by Deputy Brady as there were a couple of typos in the one circulated, which he has addressed, so this is the substantive address that he will now proceed to put on the record. Before I invite Deputy Brady to present his opening address, I thank Senator Ó Clochartaigh for facilitating the quorum requirements of the committee. I call Deputy Brady.