Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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I welcome our witnesses. From committee room 2, I welcome Mr. Eddie Wilson, CEO and Mr. Darrell Hughes, people director, from Ryanair. I can now see committee room 2 and I can see two people there, so I take it they are our witnesses and I thank them very much for joining us. From Aer Lingus headquarters, which is in Dublin Airport, I welcome Mr. Sean Doyle, CEO, and Mr. Donal Moriarty, chief corporate affairs officer.

For those in attendance at committee room 2, I wish to advise that by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to this committee. If they are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence in relation to a particular matter and they continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and they are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise nor make charges against any person, persons or entity, by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. For those attending remotely from Dublin Airport, witnesses giving evidence from a location outside the parliamentary precincts are asked to note that the constitutional protections afforded to witnesses attending to give evidence before committees may not extend to them. No clear guidance can be given on whether the extent to which the evidence given is covered by absolute privilege of a statutory nature as this has not yet been tested before the courts. Hopefully, today's proceedings will not give rise to that test.

I ask Mr. Doyle to make his opening statement and to confine it to five minutes or less so that we will have time for questions and answers.