Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The next item is decisions of the Joint Committee on Public Petitions. The first petition for consideration is P000031/16. The proposal is that, following consideration by the committee of a response from the Department concerning the suggestions of the petitioner, we would forward a copy of the response from the stakeholder to the petitioner and close the petition. Is that agreed? Agreed. The next petition is P000037/16. It is proposed to forward a copy of the response from the Department to the petitioner and close the petition. Is that agreed? Agreed. The next item for consideration is P000013/17 from Ms Tara O'Sullivan, entitled, Make the new English Junior Certificate exam fairer by adding 30 extra minutes. It is proposed to invite representatives from the Irish National Organisation for Teachers of English to appear before the committee to further examine its views on the petition and to forward the petition to the Joint Committee on Education and Skills for its observations. On the need to have mock examinations, it is proposed to consult further with the Department of Education and Skills on the use of the mock examinations, invite the Houses of the Oireachtas parliamentary education officer to appear before the committee in private session to discuss his views on the petition and forward a copy of the response to the petitioner. At some stage we might invite the State Examinations Commission to appear before us for further perspectives on this issue. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The next item for consideration is P000023/17, which concerns opening an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit in all primary and secondary schools. It is proposed that we correspond with the Department once again, requesting an update on the outstanding correspondence, and to request details of statistics available from the Department on the distances that children with a recognised need for an ASD unit have to travel to avail of a school with such a unit. It is also proposed to correspond with As I Am, the advocacy organisation, seeking its observations about this petition, and to forward a copy of the responses from Irish Autism Action and the Irish Society for Autism to the petitioner, outlining the further steps being taken by the committee. We will also correspond with the National Council for Special Education. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The final petition, P000030/17, concerns the request for amending legislation on dog control. It is proposed to forward a copy of the response from the County and City Management Association to the petitioner. The petition will remain open as we are still awaiting a response from the petitioner. Is that agreed? Agreed.