Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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We now continue in public session, sitting as the joint sub-committee on petitions. We have had a chance to deliberate on all five petitions before us today and will now record the decisions. We have received 131 petitions to date. A total of 106 have been brought before the committee on at least one occasion. These petitions often involve a huge amount of work and can roll on for quite a considerable time.

The first petition before us is P00026/14 - civil rights for civil servants, from Mr. Thomas Geraghty. This petition addresses the restrictions placed on civil servants in relation to running for election to public office, membership of political parties, and making comments on matters that have little or no relevance to their jobs. The petitioners agree that there need to be some restrictions, but this should not involve the removal of what they regard as basic civil rights for all civil servants. Previous attempts to resolve this issue through industrial relations discussions have failed. I will go to Senator Susan O'Keeffe to propose our recommendations.

Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)
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I acknowledge again how important it is that petitioners come forward. We see the considerable work put in by petitioners. This petition was submitted by Mr. Thomas Geraghty. There is considerable conversation to be had about this, because he is talking about the removal of a basic civil right - the idea that civil servants might not be able to stand for election because of their jobs. We would like to ask the Human Rights Commission if it could give us a written opinion on whether this is a basic civil right and what the context for that might be. That would give us some material to discuss, and then we can look at how the petition could be taken forward, whether it needs some additional material or what might be done next.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Our secretariats will undertake some desktop research on what the situation is in other European countries.

The second petition before us today is P00029/14, a child care tax credit, submitted by Mrs. Sonya Boyd. The petitioner requests that the joint committee call on the Government to introduce a child care tax credit in the 2015 budget. The proposal was submitted in September 2014, too late for consideration in this year's budget. The petitioner supplies a link to a petition with 1,002 supporting signatories; however, the petitioner has not completed the standard form for supporting petitioners and has therefore not confirmed their permission to use their names in this petition. The secretariat has engaged with the Department of Finance with a view to having this proposal considered as part of next year's budget. I ask Deputy Mulherin to record our decision.

Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chairman. This is very timely as we discuss child care and how it can be provided in an affordable manner for families such that it would not inhibit their ability to work and so on. In the circumstances, and because it is the brief of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, I suggest that we refer it to the Minister for his consideration as part of a suite of possible measures for addressing child care costs.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

The next petition is P00030/14. The non-principal private residence tax, NPPR, process is flawed, according to Mrs. Brigid Timmons, the petitioner. She is seeking to have the committee change or modify the Act relating to the payment of NPPR, dismantle the fines and refund and compensate those who have paid or entered into a so-called agreement to pay by instalments. As this petitioner has referred the matter to the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman has adjudicated on the matter, it is inadmissible for our committee. Our committee does not second-guess the decision of an ombudsman. That is our decision, and we will inform the petitioner of that.

P00032/14 is a proposal to introduce a tax on lottery winnings to generate revenue, allowing elimination of the universal social charge. That is from Mrs. Geraldine Morrissey. I will ask Senator O'Keeffe to record our decision on that.

Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)
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Mrs. Morrissey has come up with a suggestion. It is always good to see useful suggestions at the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions and not just problems and complaints. In this case she is talking about potentially taxing lottery winnings. What I think would be useful for the petitioner is if we were to give her the facts and figures surrounding the amount of money that is won by national lottery winners each year and the revenue from the USC, and some information about how taxing certain winnings might affect other winnings, and then see if she would like to come back and engage further or whether that might actually be sufficient information for her. In fact, the amount of money that is won in the national lottery is quite small in comparison to the USC, but it may well be useful for her to see that in order for her to gauge whether she would like to take it further.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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P0003/15 is a call for the legalisation and decriminalisation of marijuana. There have been a number of these petitions. This is the fourth received on this topic. What is being said here is that the petitioner did not exhaust all avenues for having his suggestion implemented prior to submitting his petition and, therefore, this should automatically deem the petition inadmissible. However, we have already deliberated over a number of petitions on this topic and what we have agreed is that it has been debated at length. There was a Private Members' Bill before the Oireachtas from then Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, so there has been ample debate and discussion. Indeed, I understand the Joint Committee on Health and Children is also dealing with this matter, so we will get back to the petitioner and inform him of this. Is it agreed that we will close the petition? Agreed.

Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)
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While that petition may be closed, we would still welcome petitions from others on subjects that have already been dealt with, particularly where evidence might change in the future. People are always welcome to send in a petition, and then we will give the judgment. It should not be thought that we are shutting the door for good on a particular area. We will always welcome it in another guise, because something may have changed.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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That is a very important point. We have received four quite similar petitions and we have dealt with them all individually, so it is an important point that no petitioner should be deterred because a similar petition has failed a period of time ago.