Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The second item on the agenda is consideration of public petitions. We have nine petitions for consideration this afternoon. Summary notes and replies from Departments and other bodies were circulated to members. The question is that the petitions considered by the committee at this meeting and the previous meeting may be published and that the replies from the Departments and other bodies may also be published. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The first petition for consideration is No. 11/21, regarding a homeless persons unit maladministration and misapplication of the British-Irish common travel area agreement policy from section 246 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 from Ms Paula Douglas. The recommendation from the private session is that the correspondence from Dublin City Council be forwarded to the petitioner and that in light of the response from Dublin City Council, the petition be closed. Do members have any views on this? Is it agreed to close the petition? Agreed.

Our second petition is No. 14/21, family liaison officer among prisons human rights investigation and rapid response in medical emergency cases. This is from Ms Nicole Coleman. The recommendation from the earlier private session is that the correspondence from the Department of Justice be sent to the petitioner for comment. Do the members have any views on this? We agreed to look for more information and the petitioner is aware that the chaplain is being used as a liaison officer in the prison currently.

We want to know if the petitioner has a problem with the chaplain continuing in that role or is there a reason she is looking for an individual liaison officer. The secretariat has agreed to get more information for us and we will follow it up at the next meeting. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Our third petition is No. 18/21 and it concerns the need to prioritise urgent environmental issues and enforce actions against non-adherence to environmental laws and regulations, and comes from Ms Alexandra Koster. The recommendation is that the correspondence from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications be sent to the petitioner for comment. Do members have any views?