Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Committee of Public Petitions has an opportunity to deal with local issues as well as national issues. Some local issues could have a national impact as well. I take on board Deputy Devlin's remarks with regard to the matter being one for the health committee. It did go to the health committee and it was agreed that some members of that committee would visit the Owenacurra Centre this month. I am well aware of that. As I said, I see where the Deputy is coming from. The petitioner has submitted a very lengthy petition setting out the pros and cons and detrimental effects of the closure of this service. This committee is the only platform that these people have to tell their story. Having been a member of the previous Committee on Public Petitions and of this committee, I have listened to petitions from the disability sector, the mental health sector and so on. This is the best committee to afford people an opportunity to explain their case. Following on from our discussion with the witnesses, we can take stock and then invite in the HSE which is entitled to an opportunity to offer its spiel. It is from that process we will get a better picture of what is happening. I am on record as saying that this committee is different from the previous one in terms of party politics. It is more of a collective group and it is more empathetic.

It is in the rules of the committee that we can submit our findings or decisions back to the Committee on Health. Obviously, if that has not been dealt with within three months, it comes back. I think it is very important to give witnesses an opportunity in our committee to tell their story. As I said at the start, we listen to the two sides and somewhere in between, hopefully, we get the truth.