I remind people switch off their mobile telephones. It is not enough to put them on silent because that causes interference.
I am pleased to welcome to today's meeting a delegation from the Swedish Riksdag which is visiting Ireland at the invitation of the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Seán Barrett, and the Irish Parliamentary Association. The leader of the delegation is Her Excellency, Ms Susanne Eberstein, who is the deputy first speaker of the Swedish Riksdag. She is accompanied by Mr. Hans Backman, Ms Emma Henriksson and Mr. Sven-Olof Sallstrom. The delegation is accompanied by Her Excellency, Ms Elisabet Borsiin-Bonnier, who is the Swedish ambassador to Ireland, and by Mr. Salim Tarazi from the Speaker's office.
The delegation has expressed an interest in exploring EU policy with us and the role our committee plays in EU affairs. We are all aware this committee has responsibility for scrutiny of EU draft proposals for the proper transposition of EU legislation into Irish law and for holding the Government accountable for the decisions taken by Ministers at Council meetings. The Joint Committee on European Union Affairs focuses also on matters concerning the strategic direction of the EU and on optimising its influence on framing that agenda.
Of course, we are also leading the debate nationally on the forthcoming referendum on the fiscal compact treaty. While Sweden is not a member of the euro, it has signed up to the treaty. Our members will be very interested in exploring with the delegation the views of the various parties in the Swedish Parliament on the treaty and also the attitudes of the Swedish population to it.
We will also be very interested to hear how Sweden resolved its crisis in the banking sector in the early 1990s. As the delegation will know, we currently have a significant banking crisis. We are very keen to learn how Sweden resolved its crisis and has become one of the most successful economies in the European Union. On that note, I hand over to the deputy first speaker and invite her to make her opening remarks.