18 Meith 2013, 15:20
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions will tomorrow afternoon hear from petitioner Thomas Kevin Walshe who will outline the barriers to qualifying for the Back to Education Allowance.
18 June 2013
Officials from Department of Social Protection and representatives of Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed will respond to the petitioner. This will be the first time that an individual citizen comes before the Committee to present a petition.
Chairman of the Committee Pádraig Mac Lochlainn says: “The petitions system provides for members of the public to set the parliamentary agenda and tomorrow will see an individual petitioner present orally to our Committee for the first time. Thomas Walshe will outline what he perceives as a flaw in the qualification criteria for the Back to Education Allowance. Reflecting the systemic nature of Mr Walshe’s experience, officials from the Department of Social Protection will discuss the Back to Education Allowance scheme. The INOU will also outline its perspective on the scheme.
“The petitions we have received raise important issues and tomorrow’s meeting will allow us examine the public service not from the perspective of the policy maker or senior civil servant but through the experience of a citizen and user of public services. Tomorrow’s meeting is an important step in the development of a robust petitions process which places the citizen at the heart of our parliamentary system.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Wednesday 19 June in Committee Room 3, LH 2000 at 4 pm. Public proceedings can be viewed online via this link.
Get involved: Make a petition and view petitions received so far.
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Richard Boyd Barrett, People Before Profit Alliance
Joan Collins, People Before Profit Alliance
Michael Conaghan, Labour
Alan Farrell, Fine Gael
Charles Flanagan, Fine Gael
Michael Healy-Rae, Independent
Peter Mathews, Fine Gael
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, Sinn Féin (Chairman)
Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan, Labour (Vice-Chairman)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin
Seán Ó Fearghaíl, Fianna Fáil
John Paul Phelan, Fine Gael
Senators:
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh
Jimmy Harte
Tony Mulcahy
Susan O’Keeffe