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

We now continue in public session, sitting as the joint sub-committee on petitions. We have had a chance to deliberate on all five petitions before us today and will now record the decisions. We have received 131 petitions to date. A total of 106 have been brought before the committee on at least one occasion. These petitions often involve a huge amount of work and can roll on for quite a considerable time.

The first petition before us is P00026/14 - civil rights for civil servants, from Mr. Thomas Geraghty. This petition addresses the restrictions placed on civil servants in relation to running for election to public office, membership of political parties, and making comments on matters that have little or no relevance to their jobs. The petitioners agree that there need to be some restrictions, but this should not involve the removal of what they regard as basic civil rights for all civil servants. Previous attempts to resolve this issue through industrial relations discussions have failed. I will go to Senator Susan O'Keeffe to propose our recommendations.