Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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Apologies have been received from Deputy Costello. I ask any member or witness participating remotely who experiences sound or technical issues to let us know through the chat function. Otherwise I will proceed. As this is a public meeting the chat function on Teams should only be used to advise participants of any technical issue or urgent matter and not for general comments or statements. I remind members who are participating remotely to keep their devices on mute until they are invited to speak. When people are speaking I ask that where possible they have their camera switched on and be mindful that we are in public session.

I remind members of the constitutional requirement that members must be physically present within the confines of the place where Parliament has chosen to sit, namely Leinster House, in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit members to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, if any member attempts to participate in the meeting from outside the precincts he or she will be refused. Those in the committee room are asked to exercise personal responsibility in protecting themselves and others from the risk of Covid-19. People should not move chairs from their current positions and always be mindful of maintaining an appropriate level of social distance during and after the meeting. Masks, preferably of medical grade, should be worn at all times except when speaking. I ask people to fully co-operate with this.

Our meeting this afternoon is to discuss issues of child poverty. From the Children's Rights Alliance I welcome Ms Tanya Ward, chief executive. I also welcome from Early Childhood Ireland Ms Frances Byrne, director of policy, advocacy and campaigning. From Single Parents Acting for the Rights of our Kids, SPARK, I welcome Ms Louise Bayliss, spokesperson, and Ms Gayle Smith from the steering committee on educational matters. They are all very welcome. I am delighted they could join us to discuss this very important topic.

Prior to hearing the opening statements I will go through parliamentary privilege. I advise the witnesses that as they are all appearing before the committee virtually, I need to point out there is uncertainty whether parliamentary privilege will apply to their evidence from a location outside of the parliamentary precincts of Leinster House. Therefore, if they are directed by me to cease giving evidence on a particular matter it is imperative that they comply with any such direction. We have allocated three minutes for opening statements. These will be followed by questions and answers. There will be time for people to come back in during the questions-and-answer session. We have a speaking rota, which was circulated prior to the meeting. I invite Ms Ward to make her opening statement.