Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)

I wish to raise an issue that came up at one of the committee meetings yesterday regarding Oireachtas enquiry lines. I was trying to highlight with the witness a delay in getting responses. Following a bit of research, I found it is a much bigger issue across a lot more of the boards and agencies that we have access to. We as public representatives should not have to go back to members of the public with excuses as to why we have not received an answer within a specific time. I did some research. For State agencies and bodies, the rules are set by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 25/2016. It requires every State body to provide and maintain a dedicated email address for Oireachtas Members and meet target response times of acknowledgement within three days with a contact point and a substantive response within 15 working days. I call for a debate on whether that is enforced so that we are able to provide the service we are expected to.