John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I advise members of the constitutional requirements 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 a member to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, a member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. In this regard, I ask any members partaking via MS Teams to ensure that prior to their contribution to the meeting they confirm they are on the grounds of the Leinster House campus. 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 person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory relating to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that members comply with any such direction.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond, and his officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The format of the meeting is that we will hear his opening statement, and this will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the members of the committee. I ask members to be concise. This committee allocates seven minutes, to include answers as well. If we have time, we will come back around. We usually do and I suspect we will have today. We will be seeing the Minister of State later as well. I remind the members of the committee that it has no role in approving the Estimates. It is an ongoing opportunity for the committee to examine departmental expenditure, to make the process more transparent and to engage in a meaningful way on relevant performance issues. I thank the Department for the briefing note provided. The Minister of State might take back our best wishes to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, on her appointment. We look forward to meeting her at some stage in the very near future. Clearly, the Minister of State is always very welcome here. It is not his first occasion. We look forward to hearing from him on the Supplementary Estimates. I invite the Minister of State now to give his opening statement.