I welcome everybody to the meeting. In addition to this morning's sitting we will have a meeting at 3 p.m. which will be attended by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney, in regard to the inquiry into the insurance industry.
We are pleased to welcome a visiting delegation from the standing committee on business and industry of the Norwegian Parliament. The delegation is accompanied by the ambassador, Mr. Hanevold and the first secretary, Mr. Jorgen. It was a great honour to meet with them earlier this morning. I invite the ambassador to say a few words later.
Unlike the delegation, the focus of our committee is enterprise and small business. It is one of the busier committees in Parliament. We are an all-party committee and get on very well. We seldom, if ever, divide on any issue we tackle in the interests of consumers. In the past two years we have spent a great deal of time investigating the insurance industry and, specifically, why insurance costs for consumers and business are so high.
The delegation's visit is timely. I note that Norway expects to introduce a smoking ban this summer. We began it very successfully on Monday. I hope the members of the delegation will find time to discover how well it is operating here.
I now invite the chairman to introduce the delegation, after which the ambassador will address the committee.