Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are now in public session. At the request of the broadcasting and recording services, members and visitors in the Public Gallery are requested to ensure that mobiles phones are switched off completely or to airplane, flight or safe mode, depending on the device, for the duration of the meeting. It is not sufficient to just put phones on silent mode as this will maintain a level of interference with the broadcasting system. Apologies have been received from Senator Martin Conway, Deputy Ruth Coppinger and Senator Jennifer Murnane O'Connor. Deputy Mick Barry will be substituting for Deputy Coppinger.

I remind members that we will have a private session following our engagement with Mr. McCarthy and Mr. McGowan. No. 1 on the agenda is the chairperson designate of the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC. Today's meeting will involve two sessions. The purpose of our first session is to engage with the chairperson designate of NOAC, Mr. Michael McCarthy, who is no stranger to this room, and discuss his strategic priorities for his role and his views on the challenges currently facing NOAC. The committee welcomes the opportunity to meet with the chairperson designate in public session to hear his views and we trust that this serves to provide greater transparency to the process of appointments to our State boards and bodies. On behalf of the committee, I welcome Mr. McCarthy back in a different role - I know he sat in this chair a number of times prior to me. I welcome him back to the committee and I look forward to his opening statement.