Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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We have received apologies from Deputy Murnane O'Connor and our Chairman, Deputy McNamara, whom we congratulate on his election to the European Parliament.

Parliamentary privilege is considered to apply to the utterances of members participating online in a committee hearing when their participation is from the parliamentary precincts. There can be no assurances in respect of participation online from outside the parliamentary precincts and members should be mindful of this when they are contributing.

I welcome our witnesses. The topic of our meeting is drug use policy, the national drugs strategy and a whole-of-government approach. I welcome the following officials from the Department of Health, assistant secretary, Ms Siobhán McArdle, Mr. Tadhg Fallon, Mr. Brian Dowling and Ms Mary-Jane Trimble; Mr. Ben Ryan, head of policy for criminal justice, Department of Justice; and Dr. Eamon Keenan, national clinical lead in addiction services, Ms Martina Queally, regional executive officer, Dublin south and east, and Mr. Joe Doyle, national lead in the national social inclusion office, Health Service Executive.

I inviite Ms McArdle to make her opening statement.