Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I suggest we start our meeting which will continue our review on displacements and demolitions in the occupied Palestinian territory. In the first part of this afternoon's meeting, I welcome, on behalf of the committee, Mr. Christopher Holt and Mr. Simon Randles of the West Bank Protection Consortium. They are joining us from Ramallah and Jerusalem. We continue with our review of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory in respect of displacements and demolition of public and private buildings. Later in the meeting, we will be meeting with senior officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin. The committee has also sought written submissions from several interested parties and bodies. On completion of the meetings and after consideration of the submissions received, the committee intends to publish a report on the process.

The format of the meeting is that we will hear the opening statements of our guests before going into a question-and-answer session with members of the committee. As we are quite time limited, due to Covid-19 restrictions, I ask that our witnesses be conscious of the fact that we are under time constraint when initially addressing the committee. Following the opening statements, there will be a discussion and questions and answers from members of our committee. I ask members to be concise in their questions. I will allocated three and a half minutes to each member. Should time permit, we will open the meeting at the end to deal with other queries and questions that might arise.

Witnesses to this afternoon's session are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise nor make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make them identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of that person or entity. Therefore, if statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, the witness will be directed to discontinue his or her remarks and it is imperative that such a direction is complied with.

Witnesses attending remotely, outside the Leinster House campus, should note there are some limitations to parliamentary privilege and, as such, they may not benefit from the same level of immunity from legal proceedings as a witness physically present currently does. Witnesses participating in the committee session from a jurisdiction outside the State are advised that they should also be mindful of domestic law and how it may apply to any evidence given to the committee.

Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise, or make charges against a person outside the Houses of the Oireachtas or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I remind members that they are only allowed to participate in this meeting if they are physically located in the Leinster House complex or in the Convention Centre Dublin, where the Dáil and Seanad are meeting today.

For anybody watching this meeting online, some Oireachtas Members and witnesses are accessing this meeting remotely. Due to the unprecedented circumstances and the large number of people attending the meeting remotely, I ask everybody to bear with us in the event of any technical issues arising. I thank the logistics team for arranging this remote set-up.

With that, I welcome everybody and ask Mr. Holt to make his opening statement.