Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is that agreed? Agreed.

The second petition is No. 8/14 from Mr. Desmond FitzGerald concerning access to Leinster House for a member of the public. He states that at present a member of the public is required to obtain sponsorship from a Deputy or Senator or their staff to sit in the Public Gallery of the Oireachtas. What we have agreed after the process of deliberation is that we would explore the matter further by forwarding the petition to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges for its consideration and, when it reports back to us, we will revisit it.

The third petition is No. 23/13 from Mr. Frank Mulcahy regarding the alleged reneging by the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on an agreement made with Deputy Ruairí Quinn in 2004. The then Department agreed, following an internal investigation, that its files showed that the allegation in respect of EU grants levelled at Mr. Frank Mulcahy had no merit and that the Department would publicise that evidence. This has not been done.

Unfortunately, because this complaint has been the subject of an investigation by the Ombudsman and an adjudication has been made by the Ombudsman, the joint committee, under its Standing Orders, cannot second-guess decisions of the Ombudsman or of a court of law. We will relay to the petitioner that we must deem his complaint inadmissible under Standing Orders. The petitioner has the right to come back in relation to any public policy matter he believes might need to change as a result of his experience. Is that agreed?