Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The agenda item for consideration this morning is pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the equality (miscellaneous provisions) Bill 2024. We are joined by David Joyce, equality officer with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions; and Ms Rachael Ryan, head of the legal rights unit in SIPTU. We are joined by Rebecca Gorman, head of policy and media with the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed and Andrew Holohan, community activist with All Together in Dignity in Ireland, who are both members of the Add the 10th Alliance. We are joined by Dr. Emer Begley, director of advocacy, and Dr. Meredith Raley, research and policy officer with the Disability Federation of Ireland; Judy Walsh, lecturer in equality studies, University College Dublin; and Eilis Barry, chief executive, and Christopher Bowes, policy and public affairs manager at the Free Legal Advice Centres. If I have got any of the witnesses' names wrong, they can let us know when they start. They are all welcome to this meeting. I thank them for taking the time this morning.

I wish to inform all present that representatives of LGBT Ireland were invited to attend this meeting. However, due to other commitments, they had to unfortunately decline the invitation. I also wish to advise all present that Ms Clíona Kimber, senior counsel, has also had to decline the invitation to appear before the committee due to unforeseen work commitments. The purpose of the meeting this morning is to hear the views of the stakeholders present on the provisions of the general scheme under consideration. It is hoped that this engagement and the engagement last week will assist the committee in the preparation of its pre-legislative scrutiny report on the general scheme.

Before we begin, I have a few housekeeping matters to go through. I advise everyone that the chat function on Microsoft Teams should only be used to make the team on-site aware of any technical issues or urgent matters that may arise and should not be used to make general comments or statements during the meeting. I remind members of the constitutional requirement that members must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit members to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, any member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. In this regard, if any members are participating via Microsoft Teams, I ask that prior to making their contribution to the meeting, they confirm that they are on the grounds of the Leinster House campus.

In advance of the delivery of opening statements, I advise witnesses and members of the following in relation to parliamentary privilege. They are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the presentation they make to the committee this morning. This means they have an absolute defence against any defamation action for anything that they say at the meeting. However, they are expected not to abuse this privilege. It is my duty as Cathaoirleach to ensure that 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 that they comply with any such direction.

Witnesses will be allocated with three minutes of speaking time to deliver their opening statements. Given the number of witnesses before us this morning, I ask that they adhere to the time allocation. Timers will appear as they start talking. Once the delivery of the opening statements has been completed, they will be followed by a questions and answers session with members. If witnesses require a comfort break during the meeting, they should indicate to me and I will suspend the meeting for a few minutes. If there are any questions that they are not prepared for or are uncomfortable answering, they can also advise me of this.