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Leinster House (File)
# Petitions system
Petitions system to allow public to 'set parliamentary agenda'
An Oireachtas committee will take petitions from the public and be “a robust body acting on behalf of our people” according to its chairman.
THE HOUSES OF the Oireachtas is to launch a public petitions system tomorrow that will allow members of the public to take their policy concerns directly to an Oireachtas committee.
The Oireachtas Public Petitions System is to be launched by a cross-party group of TDs and Senators in Ballymun, north Dublin tomorrow.
According to Leinster House authorities the system will allow members of the public to submit petitions online and through the post.
The system will allow members of the public to take their concerns about policy to the Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions which will act as a “robust body acting on behalf of our people”.
“The petitions system for the first time provides for members of the public to set the parliamentary agenda. This is good for our democratic society,” the chairman of the committee, Peadar Tóibín, said.
“It will enhance the accountability of the Houses of the Oireachtas reviewing and investigating the concerns as requested directly by citizens.”
Petitions received from the public will be reviewed by the committee who Sinn Féin TD Tóibín said would be focused on making recommendations and “directing change”.
He added: “The petitions we receive will allow us examine the public service not from the perspective of the policy maker or senior civil servant but through the experience of citizens and users of public services.”
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