Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the witnesses from the Institute of Public Health, IPH. We are joined by Ms Suzanne Costello, chief executive officer; Dr. Jenny Mack, public health medicine consultant; Ms Sinéad Ward, director of finance and governance; and Dr. Paul Kavanagh, IPH board member and consultant in public health medicine in the national health intelligence unit of the HSE.

I will invite Ms Costello to give her opening statement, which will be followed by questions from members of the committee. Each member has a five-minute slot to ask questions and for witnesses to respond.

I remind members of the committee of the constitutional requirement that, in order to participate in public session, members must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex. Members of the committee attending remotely must do so from within the precincts of Leinster House. This is due to the constitutional requirement that in order to participate in public meetings, members must be physically present within the confines of the place where Parliament has chosen to sit. In this regard, I ask any member participating via Microsoft Teams, prior to making his or her contribution to the meeting, to confirm that he or she is on the grounds of Leinster House.

Members and witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice 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 committee or the person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, I will direct them to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that they comply with any such direction.

As the witnesses will probably be aware, the committee will publish the opening statement on our website. MPs participating in this committee meeting from a jurisdiction outside the State are advised that they should be mindful of their domestic law and how it may apply to their participation in proceedings.