Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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We are in public session. We are sitting as the joint sub-committee on petitions. We will record the decisions of the committee. The committee has received a total of 134 petitions to date since the launch of the petitions system. The secretariat has been examining them to establish admissibility of the petitions and to decide how best to progress a petition for consideration by the joint sub-committee. Some 115 of the petitions received have been brought before the committee on at least one occasion.

Today we are considering five petitions, the first petition is No. P00024/13, in respect of the recruitment policy in RTE. The petitioner, Mr. Kevin Sharkey, is of the opinion that there is a policy in RTE, where the station employs only white people. He states that in the past 20 years he is the only non-white person to successfully gain employment as a television presenter with the station. He would like to see a more diverse staff in RTE with the station hiring people for what they can do and not on the colour of their skin. This petition came before the committee in February and March 2014 and the committee agreed to write to RTE for clarification and in turn to forward its reply to the petitioner for response. The petition would have come before the committee again last year but we were awaiting the petitioner's response, which we received on 27 February 2015.

I will open the discussion to members for their comments.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is a fair observation and it is reasonable to say that we do not see many of the faces of the new communities and minorities in Irish society represented in RTE. If the station is to be truly reflective of Irish society, we would want to see the situation improve. I take the point made by RTE that it complies with equality legislation and tries to recruit people based on merit. What springs to mind is the issue of gender quotas, although one wants to improve gender balance on the other hand, one wants to recruit on the basis of merit. That is a reasonable response. It is positive that the petitioner has said that since the petition was submitted and the committee has engaged with RTE, some improvement has been detected. RTE seems to be saying that it will bear in mind the concerns of the petitioner and we could ask it to make a little extra effort and reach out more to the new communities by advertising posts in some of the newspapers that the new communities read, such as Metro or the Polish newspaper. People in the new communities might not be aware of the post beings advertised and could be made aware of the jobs if they were advertised in the media they read.

I hope that RTE will bear in mind the general consideration.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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We could ask RTE to include diversity and ethnic mixes in the next public service statement as that would ensure that RTE would put it into its corporate and public service programmes as an objective.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Petition No. P00012/14 is a call for a sworn inquiry into the appointment of two senior planning inspectors to the board of An Bord Pleanála. The petitioner, Mr. Jim Connolly, is calling for an independent inquiry into the appointment of two senior planning inspectors to the board of An Bord Pleanala in January 2012. He is claiming there was collusion by the chairman of An Bord Pleanála, senior officials of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, ICTU, IMPACT and a Government Minister to allow the appointments be made in the first place. He is questioning how the appointments can be justified under the requirements of section 106 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 regarding appointments to the board. He is of the opinion that the two officials could not have met the requirements of this section of the Act as planning and farming are poles apart. He also notes other legal factors relevant to the appointment process, including the setting of precedents, which would allow the board to be entirely made up of its own employees. This issue was discussed in 2008 by the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht with the Irish Rural Dwellers Association and the then Minister. The Minister outlined the nominating and appointments process and stated that these had only recently been endorsed by the Oireachtas. Furthermore it appears from transcripts of this meeting that no follow-up action was recommended.

I invite the members to comment.

Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael)
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I recommend that we write to the petitioner, asking him to state specifically the reasons he believes these appointments were illegal under the Planning and Development Act 2000 and to point out the breaches of the legislation.

We should consider the petition at the end of term review, with possible corrective recommendations to be made at that stage as to where the system night have broken down. The petitioner did not outline specifically the grounds on which he felt the Minister was in breach of the Act. I think that would be a reasonable course of action.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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Thank you Senator Mulcahy. Let me add that the committee may decide to make a strong recommendation that should this committee be re-established in the next Dáil, that under its oversight brief the new committee should examine the issue of appointing members to boards and the current legislation governing the process. That would add another layer of review.

Is petition No. P00012/14 agreed? Agreed.

Petition No. P00013/14 in the name of Ms Bridie Cox and 34 supporting petitioners, is calling for the introduction of procedural safeguards in legislation in order to prevent injustice by State officials and the HSE and for all investigations to be carried out by an independent body such as an independent dedicated health ombudsman and not by the State body itself. The whistleblowers in the HSE organisations, homes, hospitals and so on should have an independent body to report their concerns to as HIQA does not have the power to investigate individual complaints, and hospitals have no guidelines for reporting any serious case of neglect when patients are brought from HSE run homes. We discussed this. Do members wish to comment?

Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael)
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We should write back to the petitioner and update the petitioner and the supporters on the new whistleblower legislation. I recommend we refer the complaint to the Joint Committee on Health and Children. I would strongly reserve our position with the Joint Committee on Health and Children but we may request it to conduct an investigation and report back to us.

We would want to ensure that the new whistleblower legislation is strong enough. We should ask the petition if she has further recommendations in that area. I think this is a very serious issue.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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I agree. We will write to the petitioners, updating them on the current position with regard to the protected disclosures, the policies that State organisations have to put in place with regard to whistleblowers and given that change, whether they still feel that there is an area that needs to be further addressed. Is that agreed?

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I mentioned earlier the issue of the monitoring of the care of patients who are accommodated outside the jurisdiction. Perhaps the HSE or the Departments of Health or Children and Youth Affairs would take particular cognisance of that. There are needs in that area and I know the next of kin are in need of reassurance in many cases.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Kirk for raising that point. The secretariat has taken note of it.

Petition No. P00025/14, relates to education, equality and justice. The petitioner is Mr. Siavash Sefidvash and Deputy Boyd Barrett is a supporting petitioner. In order to get an initial understanding of the issue at hand, we need to delve into the initial aspects of the case in order to decide how best to proceed with this petition.

The petitioner was a student in Blanchardstown Institute of Technology when he was assaulted. He reported this assault and claims he was advised to take no further action, which he did. He then realised he could no longer continue to study at the institute and decided to move to UCD where he experienced even harsher treatment. He feels the system currently in place in these institutes when dealing with complaints of bullying or discrimination are not sufficient.

He also disagrees with the manner in which the equality tribunals operate in Ireland, leaving individuals at a disadvantage as the colleges can engage the services of expert legal teams to argue their case, leaving the student taking the case at a major disadvantage. Do members wish to comment on this petition?

Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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We discussed this at some length. There is broad agreement within the committee that it is an area that bears further examination. It is not alone at third level, but at second and primary level as well. In the schools, there is a need to put arrangements into place that will protect the best interests of the pupil and of the principal, the teachers and the board of management.

While this petition relates specifically to a third level situation, I am not commenting on the details of the petition any more than I think the committee should. I propose that we write to the Department of Education and Skills asking that it review the procedure and protocols it has in place to deal with difficulties that arise from time to time.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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If I could comment, I met the petitioner on a number of occasions. As I explained to him, neither I nor this committee is in a position to adjudicate on the specific events that occurred with him. However, he seems to raise some legitimate concerns and a legitimate issue as to whether there is a level playing field when a student - one could more generally say "an individual" - is dealing with a large institution with all the resources, particularly legal resources in cases of dispute, that it has available and whether there is an independent dispute resolution mechanism where both sides have equal resources at their disposal to adequately represent themselves and ensure fair adjudication of any dispute.

The petition is strengthened in raising the issues in that it references the Hunt report produced by former Ms Justice Catherine McGuinness which has independently identified that there are issues to do with governance and properly resourcing and supporting students. The report deals particularly with third level, but the issues could apply to other levels as well, for students to have the support necessary to ensure the best experience and a fair interaction with college authorities, particularly in situations of dispute.

These are serious matters. As the recommendations from the secretariat indicate, we should ask the Department of Education and Skills precisely what are the procedures and also to look at what goes on in third level institutions to deal with situations of dispute or allegations of bullying or malpractice.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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We should also find out from the Department about the Hunt report and the implementation of the recommendations there. Those are the three recommendations of the committee. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Petition No. 40/14, disease rates linked to central heating systems is from Mr. Tony Rochford. Since 2000, a large percentage of plumbers started to use single check non-return valves to link the central heating system to the householder's water supply. Prior to this, a separate water tank in the attic was used to supply the central heating system. There are no regulation on this issue.

The Petitioner has requested that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government inform the HSE of this issue and to conduct a public awareness campaign. According to the petitioner, there are possibly 100,000 plus households affected and research indicates that chemicals and bacteria are leaking into the houses' water supply. With self-certification and no regulations, many plumbers continue this practice countrywide.

At the same time, the HSE is reporting an ever-increasing level of disease rates where water can be the transmission route. Health and social care professionals, HSCP, reports also indicate that 30% of these outbreaks come from unknown sources.

The petitioner has requested that the committee deal with this issue. I open it to the members.

Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael)
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I formally propose that we write to both the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation informing them that the joint committee recommends the implementation of sections 9.5.2., 9.5.3 and 9.6.4 of the draft code of practice as produced by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI), and ask has the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government any plans to introduce regulations or legislation to address properties which are possibly already affected by the issue as raised by the petitioner.

If possible, I would like the petitioner to come before the committee to give a short demonstration of what is happening. He need not bring the tank out of the attic to explain. If there is a health risk identified here, the petitioner seems to have been passed from Billy to Jack by the different Departments. I think there is a health risk. The man is a professional and he knows what he is talking about.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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We could also write to the NSAI informing it that we welcome its draft code of practice and wish to know when the document will be finalised and have any amendments been made to the relevant sections noted by Senator Mulcahy, namely, section 9.5.2 on feed and expansion systems, section 9.5.3 on cold mains water supply and section 9.6.4 filling of sealed systems.

We should take it step by step. First, we could write to those bodies and depending on what we hear back, we can consider inviting the petitioner in or even conducting a site visit to see an example at first hand. Is it agreed that we write to those two bodies in the first instance? Agreed. Is there any other business?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Have we a schedule of the big ticket items that are coming up in the next while and what slots are available? The reason I ask is because there is one particular petition of which I am aware that was submitted recently from representatives of the taxi drivers and it is time constrained. There is a new regime of charging and also to do with the metering in taxis which requires them all to get new meters. They feel they have not been adequately consulted on this change. They have submitted a petition to look at the consultation issue. The time constraint is towards the end of April and they were hoping they might get a chance to put their case.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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Is it towards the end of April?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is towards the end of April which, I accept, is a short timeframe for us. However, it is a fairly substantial issue affecting a lot of people. They deserve their opportunity to put their case.

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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That is a fair and legitimate concern. As a solution, first, I will ask the secretariat to circulate the petition to members as soon as we can. The problem with timing is that we are sitting next week and not sitting for Easter, and we will not be able to have them then. I will ask the Clerk to the Committee to see is there a spot so that we could get them in as soon as possible. If we can facilitate them early, we will. Is that fair enough?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That would be great.