The second item of the agenda is the election of a vice chairperson.
Election of Vice Chairman
I nominate Deputy Noel Coonan.
I second that.
Are there any other nominations?
I nominate Deputy Dessie Ellis.
I second that.
As there are more than one nomination for the position of vice chairperson, I will deal with the nominations in the order in which I received them.
Question, "That Deputy Noel Coonan be appointed Vice Chairman of the joint committee" put and declared carried.
I declare Deputy Noel Coonan vice chairperson of the committee. I congratulate him on his election and I look forward to working with him over the coming period. I ask members to check their mobile phones again because a vibration is being picked up here. Even setting phones on silent mode is inadequate. One of the ambitions I have for this committee is that we get proper media coverage for the type of work being done in the committee and it would be an awful waste if our work cannot be picked up because somebody has left a phone turned on. I ask members to turn off their phones and not put them on silent mode because we will end up with this distortion. I will give members a minute or two to switch off their phones.
The third item relates to housekeeping matters and I propose that we go into private session for the remainder of the meeting.
The joint committee went into private session at 2.40 p.m. and adjourned at 3.10 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 28 June 2011.