Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have six petitions for consideration today. Some petitions that were not approved at the previous meeting have been brought forward. One was the petition we have just discussed. As was agreed in private session on 23 November 2022, the petitioner was informed that Kildare County Council was presenting at the Committee on Public Petitions public meeting today, Thursday, 8 December, virtually via Microsoft Teams to discuss the petition. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Petition No. 45 of 2022 relates to presidential pardons in respect of cases pre-dating the State and was submitted by Mr. Jeremiah Murphy. It is the view of the secretariat that this petition is inadmissible because of Dáil Standing Order 127, which relates to the admissibility of petitions and which states that:

(1) A petition is admissible unless it— (a) requests the Dáil to do anything other than the Dáil has power to do.

The formal powers and functions of the President are prescribed in the Constitution. Many of the powers of the President can only be exercised on the advice of the Government but the President has absolute discretion in other areas. Article 12 and Article 13 of the Constitution are relevant in this context. Article 12.6.1° states, "The President shall not be a member of either House of the Oireachtas", and Article 13.6 states, "The right of pardon and the power to commute or remit punishment imposed by any court exercising criminal jurisdiction are hereby vested in the President, but such power of commutation or remission may also be conferred by law on other authorities.” The committee recommends that the petition be deemed inadmissible for the reasons I have just read out and that the petitioner should be advised of same. Do members have a view? Is that agreed? Agreed.

Petition No. 60 of 2022 is entitled Save Clifden District Hospital and was submitted by Ms Anne McDonagh. This petition relates to a request that the HSE stop “having its [Clifden District Hospital's] services and resources systematically stripped [...] and that the HSE restore the hospital to levels of service previously maintained in the past”. The petitions case manager corresponded with Mr. Ray Mitchell, assistant national director in the parliamentary affairs unit of the HSE on 7 November 2022 and received a reply from Mr. Mitchell in response to the petition on 15 November 2022. The committee recommends that the correspondence from the HSE be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Do members have any views?