Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions

Decisions on Public Petitions Received

4:00 pm

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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The committee is sitting in public session in its capacity as the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions to record the decisions of the committee. The committee has received a total of 152 petitions to date since the launch of the petitions system. The secretariat has been examining them to establish the admissibility of the petitions and to establish how best to progress a petition for consideration by the joint sub-committee. Some 129 of the petitions received have been brought before the committee on at least one occasion. Of these, 61 were considered, a decision agreed upon and closed, 41 were inadmissible and, of the total figure, 51 were awaiting or still under consideration.

There is a total of nine petitions before us today. Following discussion, the decisions of the joint sub-committee can be recorded in public session, where members will again be given the opportunity to make points in regard to the petitions. The first petitions are in a group of three, comprising No. P00050/12, No. P00070/12 and No. P00071/12. These are three petitions relating to the height of, and overhanging, trees and their impact on neighbouring properties. It was agreed to group the three petitions together. They all concern the need for legislation to regulate the height of trees and hedges and to provide a mechanism for the resolution of complaints in regard to overhanging trees and hedges without having to engage in prolonged and costly litigation, with the attendant risks. Our committee has deliberated on this. I will now call Senator Ó Clochartaigh to record our decision.

Photo of Trevor Ó ClochartaighTrevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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I would like to thank the secretariat for the work it has done on this, given there has been quite a lot of work over and back between different agencies and Departments. The conclusion and the recommendation we are making is, once again, to recommend to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government that it would carry out the following: to introduce legislation specifically dealing with the height and maintenance of trees and hedges or to consider amending section 108(3) of the Environmental Protection Agency Act to cater for the height of trees and hedges and procedures when dealing with disputes in regard to the issue; and to inform the Department that this committee is recommending that it implement one of the above as a matter of urgency. We also recommend the following: the new or amended legislation should provide for height restrictions as to the specified height of a tree in a neighbouring garden, for example, no higher than 2 m; it should state that all attempts have been made between the neighbours to resolve the issues in advance of contacting the Department or local authority for assistance in reaching a solution to their issues; the Department or authority should then have the power to investigate the issue and, once satisfied, issue sanctions on the offending neighbour to resolve the issue and bring their tree or hedge in line with the required height, as set out in the legislation. If there is still non-compliance, this should then go to mediation and, failing mediation, there should be an option to bring the individual before the courts and apply a penalty or a fine, similar to those imposed in the UK.

I believe it is important to do that because what we and the secretariat found is that there is a very haphazard approach from all of the different local authorities, none of which seem to have the same by-laws in regard to these issues. Serious vexation has been caused in this area and some form of legislation is needed to deal with that. That is our recommendation. We also recommend that we close this petition as a matter of course and deem we have dealt with it fully.

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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That is agreed. We move on to No. P00029/14. The petitioner is calling on the Government to introduce a child care tax credit in the upcoming budget, which obviously has now passed. The petitioner advises of more than 1,000 supporting petitioners. We had forwarded this matter to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. After a number of contacts with the Minister's office, we received a response. What we are agreeing on this petition is that we would forward the response to the petitioner, given it is a substantial response and demonstrates some progress on the matter, and that we would close the petition. Is that agreed? Agreed.

We move to No. P00032/14. The petitioner requested that the joint committee call on the Government to introduce a tax on lottery winnings in order to eliminate the universal social charge. We considered this petition on 4 March of this year and agreed to forward to the petitioner correspondence from the Department of Finance, which advised that a tax on lottery winnings would not generate as much as USC. The petitioner has accepted that assessment from the Department and is happy enough for the petition to be closed. That is agreed by our members today.

Photo of Susan O'KeeffeSusan O'Keeffe (Labour)
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This is a very useful submission, where somebody has a good idea. People often say, "But if we did this...". That we can give the research back and can give a cogent answer allows the person to say that it was worth doing. It is a very small example of the fact the petitions committee is not that complex and that people can feel free to use this committee, if they have an idea they think would be relevant, given we can, quite promptly, come up with a solution. It is a good example and I would like to thank the petitioner for engaging with us.

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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I agree and echo the views of other members. We often find that when petitioners get responses, they are happy with it.

We will move on to No. P00011/15. The petitioner is concerned with the regularity of scanning during pregnancy. The committee agreed to look at this as there could be a public service oversight issue. However, as there appear to be errors in the text and there have been difficulties in contacting the petitioner, unfortunately, we have to close the petition at this stage. It is agreed that we close it.

The next petitions are No. P00025/15, No. P00026/15 and No. P00027/15. They are all related to the Syrian refugee crisis, although coming from different perspectives. Our committee has agreed to correspond with the petitioners outlining that the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality and the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade have both given significant attention to these matters. We will send on the transcripts of both committee hearings relevant to the subject matter. We do not intend to reinvent the wheel as those committees have dealt with it comprehensively already. Is it agreed that we close the petitions? Agreed.

Photo of Susan O'KeeffeSusan O'Keeffe (Labour)
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It might be worth noting the petitioner is almost ahead of the curve in that they are so enthusiastic and willing to help, and want something to happen.

The apparatus of government is still sorting out how it should respond. Certain commitments have been given by the Government and it is to be hoped they will be followed up on. Plans are being drawn up, but, in a way, it was almost impossible for the petitioner to have seen any action because there was no place for it. It is a good example of someone showing his or her enthusiasm and a desire to help, but the committee perhaps is not quite the right place for this to be observed. Perhaps the petitioner might be sent a copy of the exchanges that have taken place in other committees and the evidence that commitments have been made by the Government to proceed and assist refugees in coming to the country.

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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One of the petitioners, Keep Syrian "Refugees" Out Of Ireland, might not be happy with being told about the progress being made, but the other two will be. We will send copies of the transcripts. The Senator is correct in saying Irish citizens were probably ahead of others across Europe and their governments. We have comprehensive transcripts to send to the petitioners who will be able to see that the Oireachtas has engaged significantly on the issue.

We will now go into private session. We will invite representatives of the Office of the Pensions Ombudsman to join us.

The joint committee went into private session at 4.45 p.m. and adjourned at 5.45 p.m. sine die.