Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for coming before the committee. This is a critical issue and they have given us great context and background. A number of speakers have referenced the fact that we have a new Minister of State with responsibility for this area. He is a party colleague of mine and I will certainly be taking it upon myself to follow up with him. I agree with Deputy Stanton that although the committee's membership includes those from different sides politically, everyone on the committee agrees about the importance of this legislation. It is important that Ireland is seen to take a strong lead. I would be somewhat disappointed that our guests have not seen the momentum or interest to date from my Government colleagues. Let it be known that I will be taking the matter up with the Minister of State directly. I will preface that remark by noting he is relatively recently in office. He will be a capable Minister of State and I know this is an area about which he is passionate. I believe he will put his stamp of authority on it.

I know we cannot reference companies by name but I was taken by Deputy Stanton's recommendation that we should try to get some of the companies that have signed up, particularly if they have an Irish footprint, before the committee.

I have some initial questions and hope to come back to our guests on foot of them. I know our guests cannot give names, but of the 100 companies that have signed up, how many have a footprint in Ireland?

Our guests have encouraged the committee to take the lead. I, for one, confirm I will be doing so. What other advice do our guests have? Are our guests aware of other countries or jurisdictions that are further down the road and which we need to look at and engage with to see what they are doing to move this forward?

I ask our guests to recap on the timeline and where we are at EU level at the moment. What will be the critical milestones over the coming weeks and months? Perhaps our guests could respond to those questions initially.