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

We have Deputy Gannon substituting this week and next week for Deputy Cairns so he is welcome. Also, later on we will have Senator Hoey substituting for Deputy Sherlock. We have received apologies from Senator Ruane. The agenda for consideration this afternoon is engagement with stakeholders regarding integration and refugee issues.

We are joined by representatives of Le Chéile, including Ms Steph Hanlon, convenor; and Mr. Gary Daly, a member and partner at Kurshiv Solicitors. From Community Work Ireland, CWI, we are joined by: Ms Anastasia Crickley, the chair of CWI policy and practice working group; Mr. Paul Kernan, who is joining us remotely and who is a member of CWI's policy and practice working group; and Mr. Mohamad Farah, who is joining remotely and who is a volunteer. From Ballymun for All we are joined by Ms Fran Neary, principal of Trinity Comprehensive, Ballymun; and Niamh Ní Chonchubhair, director at Axis Ballymun. From the Far Right Observatory, we are joined by: Ms Niamh McDonald, co-ordinator; and Mr. Mark Malone, research lead. They are all welcome to the meeting and we appreciate that they were able to join us.

Before we start I will go through the normal housekeeping matters. I advise anyone who is attending online via MS Teams that its chat function should only be used to make us aware of technical issues or urgent matters and not to make general statements or comments during the meeting. 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 cannot permit anyone who is not adhering to this requirement to ask questions. I ask members who partake via MS Teams that, prior to making their contributions, they confirm that they are on the grounds of the Leinster House complex.

In advance of inviting our guests to deliver their opening statements, I wish to advise them of the following in respect of parliamentary privilege. For witnesses who are participating from the committee room, they are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not criticise or make charges against any 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 of an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that they comply with any such direction. For witnesses who are participating virtually, I must point out that there is uncertainty over whether parliamentary privilege applies to evidence given from a location outside the parliamentary precincts of Leinster House.

We will give each group five minutes of speaking time. I will start with Ms Hanlon, then Ms Crickley, then Niamh Ní Chonchubhair and then Ms McDonald. Afterwards we will go through the questions and answers with members.