Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Today's meeting is with Cork City Council and Galway City Council in a continuation of a series of meetings we are having with local authorities to discuss Housing for All, the historical provision of housing through some local authorities and the projections for the coming years. From Cork City Council we are joined in the room by Ms Ann Doherty and Mr. Brian Geaney, and online we are joined by Mr. Fearghal Reidy and Mr. Niall Ó Donnabháin. They are very welcome to the committee. From Galway City Council we are joined in the room by Mr. Brendan McGrath, Ms Patricia Philbin and Mr. Brian Barrett, and online by Mr. Dermot Mahon. I thank both councils for their opening statements, which were submitted to us in advance, have been circulated to members and will be published to the website after the meeting.

I will read a brief note on privilege before we commence. I remind members of the constitutional requirement that they must be physically present within the confines of the place where Parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House, in order to participate in public meetings. For witnesses attending in the committee room, they are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their contributions to today's meeting. This means they have an absolute defence against any defamation action for anything they say at the meeting. Those who are attending online have limited privilege. Both members and witnesses are expected not to abuse the privilege they enjoy. It is my duty as Chair to ensure this privilege is not abused. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative they comply with any such direction. Members and witnesses 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 Houses or an official, either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I will begin with Cork City Council and then ask Galway City Council to make its opening statement. The format we follow is a seven-minute segment for each member. The seven minutes consists of time to ask questions and receive answers. If members want to direct a particular question to a particular local authority, that would be helpful. I ask them to keep their questions short in order to allow ample time for witnesses to answer. We have several substitutions.

I invite Ms Doherty to make her opening statement on behalf of Cork County Council.