Decisions on Public Petitions Received
The committee agreed to publish correspondence and forward four petitions to the relevant Departments or the petitioner for comment: e-scooters on public transport, credit union AGM legislation, divorce delays, and common travel area access for student visa holders. It also agreed to close the final petition on the basis that no further benefit could be provided.
I propose that the petitions considered by the committee at this meeting and the previous meeting be published and that the replies from the Departments and other bodies may also be published. Is that agreed? Agreed.
We have four petitions for consideration this evening. Petition P00001/25, from Mr. Shane Weldon, is a call for the National Transport Authority, NTA, to reconsider a ban on e-scooters on public transport. That is a pretty timely one given what is going on at the moment. We have correspondence back from the Department of Transport. The proposal is that we forward it to the petitioner for his comment within 14 days and that it be published. Do members have any views on this?
Comment on this
That is agreed.
The second petition this evening, Petition P00051/25, concerns the Credit Union (Amendment) Act and is from Mr. Brian Gould. This relates to giving consideration to rescinding the emergency legislation on the holding of annual general meetings, AGMs, online, which, as we know, was brought in during Covid. We have correspondence from the petitioner. The proposal is that we forward that correspondence to the Department of Finance for comment. Do members have any views? If not, is that agreed?
Comment on this
I agree. I look forward to the correspondence from the Department.
Comment on this
I think we all do.
The third petition for us to agree this evening is Petition P00054/25, which relates to considerations for delays in the divorce process. It is from Mr. Shane Cusack. This will be the second time in public session that we have considered issues with regard to divorce, so if my husband is watching, this is in no way my doing. It just happened to come before us; he should not read anything into it. The recommendation is that we publish the response from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and that the correspondence be forwarded to the petitioner and, indeed, my husband for comment within 14 days. Do members have any views?
Comment on this
Agreed. That is fantastic.
The final petition this evening then is Petition P00058/25, which is a proposal to expand common travel area access for student visa holders. It is from Mr. Xiaochuan Zhang. There has been some correspondence between the committee and the petitioner. The proposal is that we publish the response from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and that this correspondence be forwarded to the petitioner. Is that agreed? Agreed.
I have to advise that, in relation to this petition, the response from the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is that the committee should close this petition because we cannot be of any further benefit. We will carry out all the actions outlined, if that is agreed. Is that agreed? Agreed.
That concludes our consideration of public petitions this evening. I invite members of the public to submit petitions via our online portal, which is available at petitions.oireachtas.ie. A petition may be addressed to the Houses of the Oireachtas on a matter of general public concern or interest or an issue of public policy.
Do members have any issues they wish to raise? No.
The committee will now adjourn until 11 a.m. on Tuesday, 3 March, when we will meet in private and public session.