Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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Senators Tom Clonan and Lynn Ruane have sent their apologies. The agenda item for consideration is the response from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to the Ukrainian crisis. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his officials will take part in our first session, while representatives from the Irish Red Cross will appear in our second session. The officials joining the Minister are: Mr. Kevin McCarthy, Secretary General; Ms Sheenagh Rooney, assistant secretary general; Ms Carol Baxter, assistant secretary general; Ms Lara Hynes, assistant secretary general; and Ms Hilda Ó Riain, principal officer. They are all very welcome. I thank them very much for being here.

I will go through the usual housekeeping measures. At this stage, everyone understands personal responsibility in relation to Covid-19. We advise anyone joining us through MS Teams that the chat function is only to be used to make us aware of any technical issues or urgent matters that may arise and should not be used to make any general comments or statements during the meeting.

For witnesses who are participating in the committee room-----