James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We turn our attention to the item before us, which is a motion on EU Regulation 2021/693 of the European Parliament and the Council of 28 April 2021, establishing the justice programme and repealing EU Regulation 1382/2013. I welcome Deputy James Browne, Minister of State at the Department of Justice with special responsibility for law reform, and his officials to the meeting. The purpose of this part of the meeting is to receive a briefing from the Minister of State on the above motion. He will bring us through that in a moment. I will invite the Minister of State to brief the committee on this regulation and then if any members have questions or wish to put points to him they are welcome to do so. If members are not speaking I ask them to make sure their microphones are muted so we do not pick up interference. I also ask them to use the "raise hand" function so we can get a list of members who wish to speak and I will take them in that order. I do not anticipate any difficulties as regards time. We will establish a speaking protocol going forward, as we discussed before the end of the previous term, but I do not think that is necessary today because we will get everyone in who wants to get in comfortably, so that is not an issue.

I remind participants 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 or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I invite the Minister of State to speak on the motion. He is welcome to the meeting. He can now talk us through this regulation and what it means for the committee and the Oireachtas.