Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We have received apologies from Deputies John Paul Phelan, Jennifer Murnane O'Connor, Cathal Crowe and Alan Dillon, and from Senators Erin McGreehan, Lynn Ruane and Mary Seery Kearney.

I ask any member or witness participating remotely who experiences sound or technical issues to let us know through the chat function. Otherwise we will proceed. As this is a public meeting the chat function on MS Teams should only be used to advise participants of any technical issue 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 cannot permit members to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore any member who attempts to participate in the meeting from outside the precincts will be refused.

I welcome representatives from Crosscare and the Immigrant Council of Ireland. I welcome Sr. Breege Keenan, project leader, Crosscare refugee service; Mr. Noel Neenan, information and advocacy officer, housing and welfare information with Crosscare; and Mr. Brian Killoran, chief executive officer of the Immigrant Council of Ireland. The purpose of the meeting this afternoon is to engage with experiences of migrant communities engaging with State bodies, the healthcare system and other social services.

Before inviting our guests to deliver their opening statements I will go through parliamentary privilege. As the witnesses 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. The opening statements will be followed by questions and answers with members. A speaking rota was circulated to members in advance. Members will be allocated five minutes of speaking time. We are low on numbers today so while I will stick with the five minutes we are likely to get through that quite quickly so there will be chances for other members to come back for second or even third rounds of questions if they wish. There will be some flexibility there. I now ask Sr. Keenan to deliver her opening statement.