Public Service Oversight and Petitions Committee calls for revision and enhancement in next Parliamentary term

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions today published its ‘Report on Improvement to the Role and Remit of the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions’. This report is an audit of the effectiveness and learnings of the Committee over the past five years and also sets out how any future remit can be enhanced to provide a more focused approach.

21st January 2016

Some of the report’s findings and recommendations include:

•    Change the remit of the Committee to only include Public Petitions and Oversight over all Ombudsmen
•    Change the name of the Committee from the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions to the Joint Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen
•    The next Dáil, and every subsequent Dáil, should have a Standing Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen
•    Revisit all legislation to ensure that all Ombudsmen, private or public, have the same power, in the same way, to report to the Dáil
•    A detailed list of recommendations for changes to the Public Petitions process which should be implemented in the 32nd Dáil are also included in tabular from in the report

Committee Chair, Pádraig MacLochlainn TD said: “When constituted in 2011, this Committee had a wide ranging remit that included acting as the investigative arm of Parliament, holding oversight of the public sector and the establishment of the first public petitions system. Naturally, our remit has changed and grown over time but, as a Committee, we understand the importance of setting out our achievements and what we have learned over the course of our term.”

“I believe that this is an important Committee that opens up Parliament and allows for direct democracy through the petitions process. The recommendations that we have put forward in this report will allow for a refined petitions process through which the Committee work with the petitioner. They will also allow for focused oversight by way of a standing Committee that ensures continuity and can work for the needs of the citizen in cases that are more complex or rely on other outside factors.”

The report can be accessed here.

ENDS

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Committee Membership:

Chairman: Pádraig MacLochlainn, Sinn Féin

Deputies:

Richard Boyd-Barrett, Independent
Paul J Connaughton, Fine Gael
Pat Deering, Fine Gael
Michael Healy-Rae, Independent
Seamus Kirk, Fianna Fáil
Michael P. Kitt, Fianna Fáil
Mary Mitchell O’Connor, Fine Gael
Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan (Vice-Chair), Labour
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin
Sean Kenny, Labour
Anthony Lawlor, Fine Gael
John Halligan, Independent
Jack Wall, Labour

Senators:

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, Sinn Féin
Tony Mulcahy, Fine Gael
Susan O’Keeffe, Labour
Ned O'Sullivan, Fianna Fáil