Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Parliamentary privilege is considered to apply to the utterances of members participating online when their participation is from within the parliamentary precincts. There can be no assurances in respect of participation online from outside the parliamentary precincts. Members should be mindful of this when contributing. This committee discusses dying, including suicide. Support information can be found on the committee's web page.

The item on our agenda today is engagement on the topic of protecting vulnerable people. We warmly welcome Dr. Aideen Hartney, director of the National Disability Authority, Professor Desmond O’Neill, chair of the Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine, Dr. Rosaleen McDonagh, playwright and disability advocate, and Mr. Don Wycherly, who is here assisting.

We are grateful to the witnesses for attending. The format of the meeting is that members ask questions after the witnesses have given their opening statements. A member can ask an individual witness a question or address a question to all of the witnesses more generally. I ask witnesses to keep their opening statements to the agreed five minutes and there are clocks on the wall to help when they start.

I invite Dr. Aideen Hartney to make her opening statement.