Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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We are on No. 5, consideration of public petitions. Petition No. 00001/19 from Ms Eleanor Glacken. The petition concerns the price of sanitary products in Ireland. Does any member wish to contribute on the matter? No. Having considered the matter in private session we propose that we would correspond again with the Department of Health and also with the Department of Justice and Equality asking for an update on this issue within the context of the National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020: Creating a Better Society for All, and to forward a copy of the response from the Department of Health as well as the official transcripts from both the Seanad and Dáil debates that have taken place, to the petitioner informing her that the petition remains open. The debate was something the petitioner sought. I note that the petitioner is a student and we have always encouraged participation from students with this committee. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Petition No. 00003/19 is from Mr. Conor Desmond and concerns the issue of hard-copy payslips for school employees and retired members of staff, specifically in the Department of Education and Skills. Does any member wish to contribute on the matter? No. Our decision is that we propose to forward a copy of the response of the Department of Education and Skills to the petitioner, as there has been progress in respect of advancing this issue and the concerns raised by the petitioner, and that we would forward it to the petitioner and close the petition. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The final petition for consideration today is Petition No. 000010/19 from Mr. Brendan Keaveney concerning the production of electricity to improve regional development in Ireland. Does any member wish to contribute on the matter? No. We propose that we forward a copy of the response from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment to the petitioner, who has extensively outlined Project Ireland 2040 and the national planning framework, NPF, and the matters regarding state aid and intervention in this area. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Having considered all of the business in terms of both correspondence and petitions I propose that the committee adjourns until Wednesday, 8 May 2019 at 1.30 p.m.