Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

If any members or witnesses participating remotely experience any sound or technical issues, I ask that they let us know through the chat function. Otherwise, we will continue as it will be a very busy session.

Before I begin, I want to remind members who are participating remotely to keep their devices on mute until they are invited to speak. When members are speaking I ask that, where possible, they have their cameras switched on and are mindful that we are in public session. I am conscious that I am speaking through my mask, so I ask members to let me know if they have trouble hearing me.

I remind members of the constitutional requirement that members must be physically present within the confines of the place where Parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House, in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Any member who attempts to participate at this meeting from outside will be refused.

I will start with part A. This session is split into part A and part B, each of which will last an hour. In part A, the committee will engage with representatives of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. In part B, we will engage with representatives of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

All witnesses are appearing virtually before the committee this afternoon from a location outside of Leinster House. The witnesses in part A include Professor Ray Murphy, who is a member of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, and Ms Sinéad Fitzpatrick, who is a senior policy and research officer with the commission.

I welcome all the witnesses to our meeting on pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme. I thank them for taking the time to prepare their opening statements. I thank those who have provided written submissions.

I also want to take this opportunity to set out the purpose of today's meeting and how proceedings will be conducted, in order to avoid any confusion. A discussion will take place on the provisions of the general scheme as they relate to:

... the statutory basis and framework under which Government may decide to authorise interventions at certain sites where manifestly inappropriate burials have taken place associated with institutions operated by or on behalf of the State or in respect of which the State had clear regulatory or supervisory responsibilities ...

There are also provisions for the establishment of an agency to carry out such interventions.

I want to remind members and witnesses that they are expected to adhere strictly to the subject matter scheduled for discussion today and that any deviation from this topic will be addressed through the Chair. Before I invite the witnesses to deliver their opening statements, I will read out the standard text regarding the provisions of the Defamation Act to remind them of their rights and obligations.

As witnesses appearing virtually, I need to point out that there is uncertainty as to whether parliamentary privilege will apply to their evidence from a location outside the parliamentary precincts of Leinster House. Therefore, if the witnesses are directed by me to cease giving evidence in relation to a particular matter, it is imperative that they comply with any such direction.

I ask the witnesses take three minutes to deliver their opening statements.