There are nine petitions for consideration so we will go straight into them. The first petition is No. 35 of 2022, "Amend Child Care Act 1991 to provide HIQA with the necessary powers to sanction Tusla, Child and Family Agency when it fails to meet its statutory obligations”. This has been submitted by the Alliance of Birth Mothers Campaigning for Justice, known as ABC. ABC is requesting that the committee initiate the necessary steps to amend the Child Care Act 1991, as amended in 2011, to provide HIQA with powers to sanction Tusla when it fails to meet its statutory obligations. ABC is Ireland’s leading advocacy group for birth mothers whose children have been taken into State care by Tusla. The recommendation on this is that the correspondence from the Ombudsman for Children be forwarded to the petitioner for information. Do committee members have any views on that?
Decisions on Public Petitions Received
The Ombudsman's response is fairly in-depth. I think it will raise a few flags with the petitioners when they get the response to this. The fact that the reading of the Bill was put back for 12 months is actually slowing it down. The Government was more or less committed to trying to strengthen the delivery of services instead of reviewing the 2005 Act. I suspect that once the petitioner gets the response, we will nearly have to bring one of the Ministers in on this or else get it onto a committee due to the fact that it is reviewing or changing the Disability Act for it. My biggest fear is that with the optional protocol not being ratified, it could prevent it. I would be very interested to see what the petitioners will come back with after the response.
I am looking at one section here:
It is the Ombudsman for Children’s opinion that the imposition of sanctions (and we are assuming it is a financial sanction that would be used) on Tusla when they are found to be non-compliant might form a barrier to the efforts to reach compliant levels. It could also have a chilling effect on innovation and trying new ideas. The fear of staff, or a service, around being penalised financially for a non-compliant finding when it may be due to a systemic issue or inappropriate funding from the Government, may hamper progress and possibly negatively impact on recruitment. Therefore, the Ombudsman for Children does not believe it is appropriate to change the legislation to allow HIQA impose sanctions.
Is Deputy O'Donoghue coming in on that?
Ms Anna Kavanagh came to us with this one. We sent the report from the Ombudsman to her. We will ask her to come back to us. I agree with Deputy Buckley that this would need a Minister in.
Yes.
Yes.
The first port of call on this one is for the reply from the Ombudsman to go back to the petitioner.
We will get their response.
We will get their response and take it from there.
We will take it from there. Is the Deputy happy with that?
Is that agreed?
That is agreed.
That is agreed.
The next petition is No. 66 of 2022, “Create a Health Services Student Allowance” in the name of Mr. Joel Rajesh. The petitioner advises that healthcare students in Ireland face
substantial costs when they are on placements at HSE public hospitals. An allowance scheme to help with these costs now exists for student nurses, but does not exist for student doctors, radiographers, dentists, pharmacists or physiotherapists. A universal health services student allowance would relieve a massive financial burden from these students and would make retaining these future graduates within the health service easier. The recommendation is that the correspondence from the Department of Health be forwarded to the petitioner for information. Does anybody have an opinion on that or want a discussion?
That is agreed, Chair.
The third petition is No. 12 of 2023, “Justice & Safety” in the name of C.J. Gaffney. This petition relates to a request from the petitioner for the Government to compensate them out of the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, EMFAF, which the petitioner states was offered at a meeting in Brussels and which the petitioner states is confirmed by the documents and by a radio interview supplied to the committee by Irish MEPs and senior EU officials, considering the unique and unprecedented circumstances of the case. The petitioner is also asking for an official and impartial investigation into all aspects of the case, for example looking at how such a dangerous vessel was certified as passing all stability criteria and continuously issued with valid sailing certification. The petitioner further states that the vessel was accepted onto the Irish register and issued with an Irish fishing license. As such, the petitioner wants to know what was the role of the Irish Marine Survey Office in handling this case. The petitioner has offered to provide numerous independent surveys, reports and professional opinions to make this a very quick and easy report to compile. They feel that on the grounds of health and safety, it will have a major impact by saving fishermen's lives across the EU. There is a lot of correspondence over and back. It is massive. This committee recommends that the correspondence from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. The correspondence from the European Commission is to be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. The correspondence from the petitioner is to be forwarded to the Department of Transport for comment within 14 days. We will seek the advice of the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, with regard to the issues raised in the petition. We will refer the petition to the European Parliament Committee on Petitions. Does anybody want to speak on that? Is it agreed?
It is agreed, Chair. That is spot on.
Just to go back, there are gaps in our own legislation that may be working against the petitioner here. Once correspondence has gone over and back, we may see from the OPLA if the loopholes can actually be closed so that it may not happen to others who may get caught in the same position.
The next petition is No. 23 of 2023, “Irish Citizenship Naturalisation application processing time”, in the name of Mr. Olasojumi Shobande. According to the Department of Justice and immigration, the Irish citizenship application now takes 23 months which is apparently due to "backlogs from the pandemic and staff could only attend office in limited capacity".
This petition seeks to raise awareness that the Department of Justice and immigration is not in compliance with the 23-month application time, with over 500 people waiting over two years. The petitioner highlights the lack of communication from the Department of Justice. The petition seeks to address an issue that directly affects anyone who applies for Irish citizenship and to highlight that two years on from the pandemic, there is still a 23-month backlog. The committee recommends that the correspondence from the Department of Justice be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Is that agreed? Agreed.
The next petition is No. 24 of 2023, “Electric Scooter Safety, Standards and Requirements”, was submitted by Mr. Alexander-Marckus Edwards. This petition relates to recent press releases stating that powered personal transporters, PPTs, or electric scooters should conform to a weight limit, including the battery, of 25 kg, and a power limit of 500 W. When the petition was before the committee on 19 October, the committee agreed that the response that was received from the Department of Transport be forwarded to the petitioner for comment. The petitioner has subsequently submitted his response to the Department. The petitioner believes that the Department of Transport's considerations do not consider the inherent dangers of riding an electric scooter or the heightened need for certain types of PPE, and contends that the age of 16 as a minimum is too young in general. The petitioner made various other points. The committee recommends that the correspondence from the petitioner be forwarded to the Department of Transport for comment within 14 days.
That is agreed, Chair.
The petitioner has made good points. I think that more detailed consideration should be given to the petition by the Department but we await the response.
Yes, we will see what comes back from the Department of Transport.
Yes. Is the recommendation agreed to? Agreed.
Petition No. 30 of 2023, “Create a walking and cycling greenway on the closed railway from Sligo to Athenry”, was submitted by Mr. Brendan Quinn. This petition relates to the closed railway line from Collooney in County Sligo to Athenry. The line has been closed for over four decades and is lying in waste. People along the route in small towns and villages in the west of Ireland want to see something happen. The petition has garnered over 26,000 signatures. The committee discussed this petition at its meeting on 19 October and Oireachtas Members commented on one side of the matter. The committee recommends that a copy of the correspondence from the petitioner to the Department of Transport be forwarded for comment within 14 days; that we write to Galway County Council in relation to the Quiet Man greenway and request a copy of the feasibility report for the greenway and an update on the status of the greenway; that we write to Mayo County Council about the petition and specifically around objective MTO9 of the county plan as it relates to the petition; and that we invite the petitioner to appear before the committee at our meeting on 14 December. Is that agreed? Agreed.
Petition No. 33 of 2023, “Carrick-on-Shannon Tree Removal”, was submitted by Mr. Fionn McWeeney. It relates to plans by Leitrim County Council to cut down 40 trees on the road to Tesco. The petitioner believes that this would go against the Government's plans under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. The petitioner has requested that the committee, on behalf of the people of Carrick-on-Shannon, bring this issue up with Leitrim County Council. At its meeting of 21 September, the committee agreed to write to Leitrim County Council requesting a copy of the detailed survey report from the arborist that the council referenced in its initial reply to this committee. The committee recommends that the correspondence from Leitrim County Council, including the arborist's report and all attachments, be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Is that agreed? Agreed.
It is a fairly substantial response.
Petition No. 39 of 2023, “Petition for Disability Benefit Support Increase and Eligibility Revision”, was submitted by Mrs. Margarida Boléo. The petitioner wrote to the committee as a concerned citizen and a sufferer of vertiginous syndrome, which severely impacts her ability to work and maintain a livelihood. The petitioner finds herself in a challenging situation because her application for disability benefit has been denied due to the means-tested payment system, primarily because of her husband's income. She implores the committee to reconsider this system and to extend support to individuals like herself who genuinely require assistance for their well-being and quality of life. Furthermore, the rising cost of living in Ireland has made it increasingly challenging for families like hers to make ends meet. The petitioner requests that the committee considers raising the disability benefit allowance to a minimum of €357 per week. She says this adjustment is essential to ensure recipients can afford the basic necessities and maintain a decent standard of living. The secretariat wrote to the Department of Social Protection and there has been a lot of correspondence back and forth. The committee recommends that the correspondence from the Department of Social Protection be forwarded to the petitioner for information. A public consultation for disability allowance and other incomes is open for submissions until 15 December. It may be worth requesting that the Department makes every effort to publicise that before the deadline expires. Again, the committee recommends that the correspondence be forwarded to the petitioner. Is that agreed? Agreed.
Petition No. 42 of 2023, “Get Morahan back in Boyle Celtic", was submitted by Mr. Ciarán Nugent. It concerns a virtual club, Boyle Celtic Football Club, of which the petitioner is a member. However, he was recently removed from the team. He believes that the action of the manager to remove him from this club is unfair and that if he gets enough signatures to support his position, he will be allowed back into the club. The committee recommends that the petition is inadmissible and, therefore, is considered closed because it requests the Dáil to do something other than what it has the power to do and because it is frivolous, vexatious or otherwise constitutes an abuse of the petitions system. Is that agreed? Agreed.
The next matter on the agenda is any other business. Would members like to make any comment?
No, Chair.
On behalf of myself and the committee, I wish to say we are sorry to lose Karen. This is her last meeting. Karen has been a massive addition to us here on this committee. It has been a pleasure working with Karen and we wish her the best wherever she lands. This committee has a big turnover of clerks and we have enjoyed working with her immensely. Best of luck.
Yes, absolutely.
I thank Karen and all of her committee colleagues for all they do for us every month.
There is a chance she has got on telly.
The committee is adjourned until Wednesday, 29 November at 11 a.m.