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

I welcome the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his officials to the meeting. All witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not criticise or make charges against a person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in respect of an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that they comply with such direction.

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 House or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I remind members of the constitutional requirement that they must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to this requirement. Therefore, any member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. In this regard, I ask members partaking via MS Teams that, prior to making their contributions, they confirm that they are on the grounds of the Leinster House complex.

Please note that, in order to limit the risk of spreading Covid-19, the service encourages all Members, visitors and witnesses to continue wearing face masks when moving around the campus or when in close proximity to others. We ask them to please be respectful of other people's physical space. They are also asked to adhere to any public health advice.

I remind members that, should a vote be called, they must physically come to the committee room in order to vote.

Before we resume our consideration of the Bill, I advise the Minister and members that two supplementary amendments have been added in the name of Deputy Cairns. These are amendments Nos. 352aand 359aand have been grouped with amendments Nos. 117 and 146 for discussion.

A revised grouping list was circulated to members by the Bills Office and hard copies are available from the secretariat.

To remind myself more than anyone else, but also anyone watching, we will move and discuss a group of amendments together. The proposers will have time to discuss that, the Minister will respond, there will be a discussion at that point and a further chance for the Minister to respond, after which we will put the question. At each point where there is a grouping of amendments, that is the opportunity to discuss all amendments in that grouping and all of them must be discussed at that point. However, amendments will still be considered for voting one by one. There may be an amendment that we are discussing that we do not get to vote on until later today or even the next session, depending on how we go. If there are procedural issues, we can pause the meeting and go into private like we did previously.