We have six petitions for consideration today. The first is Petition No. 52 of 2022 entitled Lil Reds Legacy Sepsis Awareness Campaign, which is from Mr. Joseph Hughes. The petition requests that the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and the national sepsis programme in the HSE develop a sepsis awareness campaign for television and radio explaining to the public how to recognise the signs and symptoms of sepsis. In 2022, the secretariat corresponded with the Minister for Health and the HSE on behalf of the petitioner. The HSE responded advising that, among other things, that the national clinical programme was applying for additional funding to develop a national TV campaign to raise awareness about sepsis which it aimed to run in 2023. This was forwarded to the petitioner for comment as agreed at the committee's public meeting on 27 October 2022. Since then, the national patient safety office in the Department of Health corresponded with the committee stating that, following correspondence received from the committee, it is reviewing its position and has advised the Minister for Health in that regard. On 25 November 2022, the secretariat received further correspondence from the HSE advising that the national clinical sepsis programme no longer intends to seek funding for a TV campaign this year and, rather, it will focus on an annual awareness campaign which will take place in September 2023. The petitioner and Ms Doireann O’Mahony of the Irish Sepsis Foundation appeared before the committee on 2 March 2023 to present the petition. At that meeting, it was agreed to invite representatives from the national clinical programme for sepsis to the meeting of the committee to discuss the petition. This meeting will take place at 1.30 p.m. on Thursday, 20 April 2023. It was further agreed by the committee that it would host a sepsis awareness seminar for Oireachtas Members and staff in the audiovisual room at a date to be confirmed. The committee recommends that it further discuss the petition at its public meeting on 20 April 2023 with representatives from the national clinical programme for sepsis to progress this petition further. Do members have any views on that?
Decisions on Public Petitions Received
I welcome the suggestion of a public event.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
This is an important issue. I apologise that I was caught up in another briefing. I have been talking to people about this issue since we spoke about it at a previous meeting. The number of people who have had issues with sepsis is extraordinary. The suggestion is a good one and I support and welcome it.
I thank the Senator. That is agreed.
The next petition under consideration is Petition No. 54 of 2022 entitled Amendment of Section 173 of Personal Insolvency Acts, which is from Mr. Karl O’Daly. The petition relates to a request to amend section 173 of the Personal Insolvency Act which provides for the keeping and preservation by personal insolvency practitioners of accounts and records. The secretariat corresponded with Ms Oonagh McPhillips, Secretary General of the Department of Justice, on behalf of the petitioner and she replied on 21 December 2022. The reply was sent to the petitioner on 23 March and he responded on 24 March. The committee recommends that the petition, the reply from Ms McPhillips and the subsequent correspondence received from the petitioner all be referred to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach for consideration. Do members have any views on this matter or is it agreed? Agreed.
The next petition is Petition No. 60 of 2022 entitled Save Clifden District Hospital, which was submitted by Ms Anne McDonagh. This petition relates to a request that the HSE stop “having its [Clifden District Hospital] services and resources systematically stripped ... and that the HSE restore the hospital to levels of service previously maintained in the past”. The petitions case manager corresponded with Mr. Ray Mitchell, assistant national director in the parliamentary affairs unit of the HSE, on 7 November 2022 and received a reply from Mr. Mitchell in response to the petition on 15 November 2022. The petitioner responded on 15 January 2023 and this reply was forwarded to Mr. Ray Mitchell for reply. Mr Mitchell responded on 22 February 2023 and this was forwarded to the petitioner who replied via phone on 24 March 2023 and via email on 27 March 2023.
The committee recommends that the petitioner's latest email be forwarded to the Health Service Executive for comment within 14 days and that a special joint meeting with other petitioners who have petitions submitted to this committee relating to the closure of community residential care hospitals and facilities be facilitated before the summer recess. This would highlight the issues of the loss of these community services throughout the country and give petitioners an opportunity to express their concerns publicly. Do members wish to express any views on this or is this recommendation agreed?
It is agreed.
Agreed.
That is agreed.
The fourth petition on the agenda is petition No. 64 of 2022 entitled “Stop heating [the] Russian Embassy” and is from Mr. Jonas Paulauskas. This petition relates to a request that the electricity, heating and water for the Russian embassy in Ireland be turned off. The committee recommends that the petition is inadmissible under the Standing Order 127(1)(a). Our committee does not have the power to do anything in respect of this petition as our committee cannot be requested to do anything other than what the Dáil has the power to do. It is recommended, therefore, that the petitioner be advised of the same and that the petition therefore be deemed closed. Do members of any views on that recommendation or is that recommendation agreed?
It is agreed.
That is agreed. I thank the members.
The fifth petition before the meeting is petition No. 65 of 2022 entitled “To bring the Legion Hall into public ownership and reopen it as a community/peace centre” and has been made by Mr. Aaron Crampton. This petition relates to a request that the now privately owned and derelict Legion Hall in Killester in Dublin 5 be added to the record of protected structures, preserved, protected and potentially purchased by the council and reopened as a community centre. The secretariat wrote to Mr. Owen Keegan, chief executive officer of Dublin City Council, on behalf of the petitioner and he responded on 15 March setting out Dublin City Council’s engagement with the petitioner on these issues to date and the reasons the council did not intend to take on the Legion Hall in Killester. This correspondence was forwarded to the petitioner who replied to the secretariat on 24 March 2023, commenting on those points raised by the council. The committee recommends that the latest correspondence from the petitioner be sent to Mr. Keegan for reply within 14 days and, upon receipt, we will consider whether this petition can be progressed further. Do members have any views or is that recommendation agreed? That is agreed and I thank the members.
I move now move to petition No. 7 of 2023 entitled “Reform of VAT rate for dog grooming services” from Mr. Paul Abbott. This petition relates to a request to re-evaluate and reform the VAT treatment of dog grooming services which currently attract a VAT rate of 23%. The petitioner considers this unfair in comparison with similar services, such as hair salons and veterinary services, which have lower VAT rates. The petitioner already submitted this complaint to the Ombudsman and provided the ruling of the Ombudsman in the documentation he submitted to this committee. In September 2022, the Ombudsman wrote to the petitioner and advised him that, on review of his complaint, the Ombudsman considered that the Revenue Commissioners had carried out their administrative functions correctly, that he cannot pursue the case further with the Revenue Commissioners, and that the Ombudsman has closed its file on the petitioner’s complaint. If that file is closed, this petition very much does not relate to us and I suspect this petition, therefore, is also closed. Is that agreed? That is agreed.
I do not think that dog grooming salons were categorised in the same way as hair salons were during the Covid-19 period. I remember you could get your dog’s hair done but not your own.
Yes, that was definitely the case. I do not believe we have anything else to consider on our agenda for today. That concludes our consideration of public petitions. As always, I invite members of the public to submit petitions via our online portal which is available at petitions.oireachtas.ie. A petition may be addressed to the Houses of the Oireachtas on a matter of general public concern or interest or an issue of public policy.
Is there any other business or does any member wish to make any final comment? No. The committee is now adjourned. I thank all members in attendance.