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

Is it agreed to close this petition? Agreed. It is open to Mr. Connolly to accept the invitation to discuss the broader issue of appointments if he wishes to do so.

Petition No. P00022/14 is the need for provision to be made for the compensation of victims of uninsured aircraft operators or other third parties suffering personal injury or loss as a result of air accidents where there is no insurance policy or the insurance policy has been repudiated. This is from Mr. John Dunphy and deals with correspondence No. 540 on our list. At the joint committee meeting of 14 January, it was agreed to refer this to the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications and close the petition. We have received welcome confirmation from the joint committee that at its meeting of 21 January, members agreed to consider the issue in the context of the committee’s work programme. We will forward a copy of the correspondence, which is positive news, to the petitioner and maintain it as a closed petition. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Petition No. P00031/14 seeks the restoration of self-builds in Ireland and is from Mrs. Amanda Gallagher. The petitioner is requesting the joint committee to call on the Government to repeal Building Control (Amendment) Regulation SI 9, which came into force on 1 March 2014, under which all construction of homes and extensions must go through a main building contractor. The committee has agreed following deliberation on two issues. This petition is deemed inadmissible, unfortunately, under Dáil Standing Order 165(1)(h) because the matter has gone before the Ombudsman. The Standing Order states:

(1) A petition is admissible unless it—

(h) requires the Committee to consider an individual complaint which has been the subject of a decision by the Ombudsman, by another Ombudsman, or by a regulatory public body or a body established for the purpose of redress.

We, unfortunately, cannot accept the petition on that basis. We will write to the petitioner informing her that the Department is currently undertaking a review of SI 9 of 2014, which includes a public consultation process that is open for submissions up until 15 May 2015. That is important because it gives her time to have an input into that. As the review is addressing the issues raised, the petition is now closed. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Our final petition is No. P00008/15, retain tariff C for taxi journeys, from Mr. James Waldron. The petition background is there will be changes to the taxi tariff applied by taxi drivers from 30 April 2015. From the information supplied by the petitioner, it appears tariff rate C will be reduced by 32 cent per kilometer. However, this is in the context of an approximate overall 4% increase and takes into account the use of new technologies such as taxi apps. The petitioner is also looking for meters to be amended free of charge to allow for the inclusion of tolls and tunnels on receipts. He is also suggesting the introduction of a charge for the carriage of luggage. We have deliberated on the petition and I invite Deputy Boyd Barrett to comment on our decision.