Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Petition 2/22, "Homelessness is Cancer - blocked up houses are not a cure", is in the name of Mr. Eamon Broughan. This petition was submitted on 28 January and relates to a housing estate in Kildare where houses were bought by the county council several years ago and have been blocked up since. The committee secretariat contacted Kildare County Council about the petition three times but did not receive a response. During this time, the petitioner contacted the secretariat seeking updates. The recommendation is, first, that direct contact be made with the interim chief executive of Kildare County Council, Ms Sonya Kavanagh, to determine whether she received the correspondence from the secretariat; second, that once that is established, the clerk should write directly to Ms Kavanagh seeking a response within 14 days the committee; and third, that we respond to the petitioner advising him of the first and second parts of this recommendation.

As we discussed during private session yesterday, the secretariat has tried hard and been fully on top of this matter in recent months. Three months without a reply from any Department or local authority should not be tolerated. That is why a period of 14 days is being recommended. The amount of work our secretariat has put into trying to get answers needs to be recognised.

Do any other Members have a view on this, or is that agreed?