Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The main item on the agenda is our second discussion on the parliamentary budget cycle and the committee's consideration of putting in our own pre-budget submission to the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in advance of next autumn's budget.

The committee has taken the decision that it will specifically submit proposals to Government for consideration as part of the budget 2022 process. Not only will we look at the spending measures, but specific recommendations on how to deliver programmes across the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Rural and Community Development. In this regard the committee advertised for submissions. Again, I thank the stakeholders, groups and individuals who submitted documentation to us. These have been very beneficial to us in our deliberations.

At our meeting we will hear from one such stakeholder group when we gain further insight into the submission of the Irish Local Development Network, ILDN, which a representative body of Ireland's local development companies. It represents 49 local development companies that provide a comprehensive range of community-based services in areas such as social inclusion, personal development and well-being, early years and family support, education and training, employment services, enterprise and social enterprise, climate change and just transition.

The representatives from the ILDN will tell us that the local development companies support more than 15,000 communities and community groups and 173,000 individuals annually through €330 million of State-funded programmes, allocated at national level. These include LEADER, the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, the national walks and recreation programme, social enterprise supports, Tús, the rural social scheme, RSS, the local employment service, LES, and the back-to-work enterprise allowance.

The committee looks forward to hearing about the work of these community companies in supporting citizens and communities and their most recent and ongoing work responding to the Covid-19 crisis. Throughout the Covid-19 crisis, the local development network companies throughout the country have been to the fore in designing innovative solutions to meet the needs of people isolated in their own homes as a result of the lockdown.

The committee wants to explore how some of these innovations can now be mainstreamed to meet the needs of those who have been isolated in the past and remain so, regardless of physical location or public health guidance. In addition to exploring the pre-budget submission with the ILDN, we will have the opportunity to discuss the broader policy issues, such as the ILDN's strategy statement and the issue of the outsourcing of local employment services and related procurement matters. It is an issue on which members of this committee have received many representations and one which has engaged the committee on numerous occasions since our establishment.

In that regard, I welcome Mr. Joseph Saunders, chief executive officer of the ILDN, and Ms Adeline O'Brien, chairperson of the ILDN's social inclusion committee. They are most welcome.

Turning to matters of privilege, members of this committee and of the Houses have absolute privilege in respect of statements made in either House of the Oireachtas or before the committee. By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses present on the precincts of Leinster House are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they are required to give to a committee. If, in the course of committee proceedings, they are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to do so, 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 are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against a Member of either House of the Oireachtas, a person outside of the House or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I call Mr. Saunders, chief executive officer of the ILDN, to make his opening remarks.