Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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I have not received any apologies. I thank members for their participation in this meeting. I remind them that they are required to attend either in the committee room or remotely from within the Leinster House complex. Should a division occur, any member participating remotely will be required to make his or her way to the committee room within the normal division time to vote before returning to his or her original location. Members and all in attendance are asked to exercise personal responsibility in protecting themselves and others from the risk of contracting Covid-19.

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy English, and his officials. Before we begin our consideration of the Supplementary Estimate for Vote 32, I will explain some limitations to parliamentary privilege and the practices of the Houses regarding references members may make to another person when giving evidence. Members are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the presentations they make to the committee. This means they have an absolute defence against any defamation action for anything they say at this meeting. However, members are expected not to abuse this privilege and it my duty as Chair to ensure this privilege is not abused. Therefore, if members' statements are potentially defamatory in respect of an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative members comply with any such direction I give.

I invite the Minister of State to make his opening comments on the Supplementary Estimates. As normal, documentation for the meeting, including the Minister of State's opening statement, has been circulated on MS Teams.