Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Before we begin, I remind members, witnesses and those in the Public Gallery to turn off their mobile phones completely or to switch them to airplane, safe or flight mode, depending on their device, for the duration of the meeting. It is not sufficient to put phones on silent mode because this will maintain a level of interference with the broadcasting system.

The purpose of today's meeting is to discuss CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. The committee will hear from several experts, officials from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and representatives from Teagasc.

On 28 February, the legal requirement for mask wearing in all settings was removed. However, it is still good practice to continue to use a face mask cover, in particular in crowded areas. The service encourages all members of the parliamentary community to wear a face mask when moving around the campus or in close proximity to others. While the easing of restrictions has removed the general requirement of maintaining a 2 m physical distance, the public health advice continues to state that maintaining a distance from other people is good practice. It is important that everyone in the parliamentary community continues to respect the physical space of other people.

Witnesses giving evidence within the parliamentary precincts are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they give to the committee. This means that a witness has full defence in any defamation action for anything said at a committee meeting. However, witnesses are expected not to abuse this privilege and may be directed by the Chair to cease giving evidence on an issue. Witnesses should follow the direction of the Chair in this regard and are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that, as is reasonable, no adverse commentary should be made against an identifiable third person or entity. Witnesses who are giving evidence from a location outside the parliamentary precincts are asked to note that they may not benefit from the same level of immunity from legal proceedings as a witness giving evidence from within the parliamentary precincts and may consider it appropriate to take legal advice on this matter. Privilege against defamation does not apply to the publication by witnesses, outside the proceedings held by the committee, of any matter arising from the proceedings.

Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make any charges against any person outside of the Houses or an official, either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. Parliamentary privilege is considered to apply just to members participating online in this committee meeting when their participation is within the parliamentary precincts. There can be no insurance in relation to participation online from outside the parliamentary precincts and members should be mindful of this when they are contributing.

During the first session today members will hear from several experts on CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. Dr. Thomas McLoughlin has worked as a research scientist with leading biotechnology companies and in universities in Ireland and the United States of America in the areas of soil microbiology and molecular genetics for 20 years. Dr. McLoughlin later worked as a senior scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and is now retired, on the implementation of GMO regulations of Ireland.

Dr. Barbara Doyle Prestwich is head of plant science and principal investigator at University College Cork, UCC, and her research area includes plant science, biotechnology, sustainable agriculture and genetics. Dr. Doyle Prestwich was appointed the first female president of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology in 2015.

Dr. Raghuram Badmi is a molecular biologist, and a postdoctoral scientist in Dr. Doyle's laboratory at UCC, funded through the Career-FIT PLUS programme. Dr. Badmi is working on generating a disease-resistant strawberry using CRISPR gene editing.

Dr. Patrick Harrison is head of the cystic fibrosis gene editing group at the department of physiology in UCC. The main research focus of this laboratory is the development of CRISPR gene base and prime editing to study and potentially treat human genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis.

I now call on the witnesses to read their opening statements, commencing with Dr. McLoughlin. The witnesses have been instructed to keep their opening statements to a maximum of five minutes.