Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge again how important it is that petitioners come forward. We see the considerable work put in by petitioners. This petition was submitted by Mr. Thomas Geraghty. There is considerable conversation to be had about this, because he is talking about the removal of a basic civil right - the idea that civil servants might not be able to stand for election because of their jobs. We would like to ask the Human Rights Commission if it could give us a written opinion on whether this is a basic civil right and what the context for that might be. That would give us some material to discuss, and then we can look at how the petition could be taken forward, whether it needs some additional material or what might be done next.