Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Senator. That is agreed.

The next petition under consideration is Petition No. 54 of 2022 entitled Amendment of Section 173 of Personal Insolvency Acts, which is from Mr. Karl O’Daly. The petition relates to a request to amend section 173 of the Personal Insolvency Act which provides for the keeping and preservation by personal insolvency practitioners of accounts and records. The secretariat corresponded with Ms Oonagh McPhillips, Secretary General of the Department of Justice, on behalf of the petitioner and she replied on 21 December 2022. The reply was sent to the petitioner on 23 March and he responded on 24 March. The committee recommends that the petition, the reply from Ms McPhillips and the subsequent correspondence received from the petitioner all be referred to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach for consideration. Do members have any views on this matter or is it agreed? Agreed.

The next petition is Petition No. 60 of 2022 entitled Save Clifden District Hospital, which was submitted by Ms Anne McDonagh. This petition relates to a request that the HSE stop “having its [Clifden District Hospital] services and resources systematically stripped ... and that the HSE restore the hospital to levels of service previously maintained in the past”. The petitions case manager corresponded with Mr. Ray Mitchell, assistant national director in the parliamentary affairs unit of the HSE, on 7 November 2022 and received a reply from Mr. Mitchell in response to the petition on 15 November 2022. The petitioner responded on 15 January 2023 and this reply was forwarded to Mr. Ray Mitchell for reply. Mr Mitchell responded on 22 February 2023 and this was forwarded to the petitioner who replied via phone on 24 March 2023 and via email on 27 March 2023.

The committee recommends that the petitioner's latest email be forwarded to the Health Service Executive for comment within 14 days and that a special joint meeting with other petitioners who have petitions submitted to this committee relating to the closure of community residential care hospitals and facilities be facilitated before the summer recess. This would highlight the issues of the loss of these community services throughout the country and give petitioners an opportunity to express their concerns publicly. Do members wish to express any views on this or is this recommendation agreed?