Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A lot of work has gone into it. It was suggested at the private meeting that we send the recommendations to the Department as well, to get its comments, because the petitioners have tried what the Minister, the Department and the insurance federation told us when they appeared before the committee. With the new recommendations from the Alliance for Insurance Reform, there might be some way forward. It was suggested that we may call the Minister before the committee again. We will wait until we get the responses back from the petitioner. Okay, that is agreed.

Petition No. P00006/22 concerns by-elections and how they may comply with legislation but not with the Constitution. This petition is from Mr. John O'Malley. The recommendations are that the committee publish the response from the Electoral Commission; the correspondence from the Electoral Commission be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days; and the correspondence from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage be forwarded to the petitioner for information as the position of the Department as not changed from its previous correspondence. One of the recommendations and suggestions that came up when we discussed this in private session was that the petitioner can follow this up through the courts system if he so wishes. It is probably not within the remit of this committee but we will continue to work with him until such time as we can do no more. However, if he wishes, it is an option for him to take his recommendations to the courts to try to change things. Is that agreed or do members have views?