Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will ask the secretariat to write to both parties. Do we need to invite Mr. Coskeran in as well or should we just deal with the county council and Irish Water first, give their replies to Mr. Coskeran and let him make a submission to the committee thereafter? Would committee members be happy with that approach? We will do that. I will ask the secretariat to write to both the county council and Irish Water. We will try to fix up a meeting with them.

Our sixth petition is No. P00024/21, which calls for an end to the Department of Foreign Affairs' boycott of international election observation missions run by the EU and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, and comes from Mr. Michael Grange. The recommendation is that the correspondence from the Department of Foreign Affairs be forwarded to the petitioner and in light of the response from the Department, that the petition be closed. Do members have any views on this? Is that agreed? Agreed.

Our seventh petition is No. 34/21 regarding an exemption for foreign-trained doctors from the pre-registration examination system, PRES, 3 exam from a doctor. I will not even try to pronounce the name - members will see it on the submission. The recommendation is that correspondence from the Irish Medical Council be forwarded to the petitioner by way of an update on this petition. Do members have views on this? I raised this matter previously and asked the secretariat to write to the council. Our lack of doctors in the country has been highlighted. If there was some way of proceeding with PRES 3 exams at a quicker rate, it might help. I suggest that we write to the council for an update and a response to the question of whether the exams can move faster. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Our eighth petition is No. 37/21, discrimination against non-EU doctors on the basis of the PRES 3 exam from a doctor. Again, I will not try to pronounce the name. The recommendation is that the correspondence from the Irish Medical Council be forwarded to the petitioner by way of an update and that a reminder be sent to the council to advise it that the Joint Committee on Public Petitions is awaiting a comprehensive reply. Do members have views on this matter? It is the same as the previous petition. Once we get an update from the Irish Medical Council, we can get the petitioner's view. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Our ninth petition is No. 39/21, issues relating to the Office of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces and the Ombudsman (Defence Forces) 2004 Act from Mr. Niall Donohoe. The recommendation is that the correspondence from the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces be forwarded to Mr. Donohoe for information. Do members have views of this matter? Is that recommendation agreed?