Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are in public session. We have not received any apologies. Before we begin, I need to go through a few housekeeping matters. If any member or witness participating remotely experiences any sound or technical issue, will he or she let us know? Otherwise, we will proceed.

I advise everybody that as this is a public meeting the chat function on MS Teams should be used only to advise participants of any technical issue or urgent matter and should not be used to make general comments or statements. I remind members participating remotely to keep their devices on mute until they are invited to speak, and when they are speaking I ask that, where possible, they have their cameras switched on and be mindful that we are in public session.

In addition, I remind members of the constitutional requirement that they must be physically present within the confines of the place in which Parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House, in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where he or she is not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, any member who attempts to participate in the meeting from outside the precincts will be refused.

Members participating in the meeting from the committee room are asked to exercise personal responsibility in protecting themselves and others from the risk of Covid-19. They should always maintain an appropriate level of social distance during and after the meeting. Masks, preferably of medical grade, should be worn at all times during the meeting except, obviously, when people are speaking. I ask for co-operation in this matter. It would be appreciated if committee members who are participating remotely put their location into the chat function so I know who is in Leinster House for the questions and answers.

Our first session is with representatives from the Collaborative Forum and Adoption Loss-the Natural Parents Network of Ireland. I offer a very sincere welcome to Ms Terri Harrison and Ms Alice Coughlan who are members of the Collaborative Forum and to Ms Muriel Thornton and Ms Rhoda Mac Manus who are members of Adoption Loss-the Natural Parents Network of Ireland. The purpose of our meeting today is to engage with them on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the birth information and tracing Bill. I want to say to all of the witnesses appearing before the committee that their assistance to us as a committee in scrutinising the general scheme of the Bill is invaluable and very much appreciated. We all recognise that it is not an easy task to appear before a parliamentary committee to discuss such sensitive issues. For this we are very grateful. We genuinely mean this and we are delighted the witnesses are able to join us today.

I need to go through parliamentary privilege before the witnesses make their opening statements. As all of the witnesses are appearing before the committee virtually, I need to point out that there is uncertainty if 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 about a particular matter, it is imperative they comply with any such direction. Following the delivery of the opening statements we will have questions and answers with the members. The speaking rota has been circulated to all members in advance of the meeting. Each member is allocated five minutes, which includes the time for answers. I now invite Ms Harrison to make her opening statement.