A plea for one-off public holidays when Irish football teams are involved in World Cup playoffs has been rejected by an Oireachtas committee on the grounds that the men’s team recently lost to the Czech Republic in a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out – but the door has been left ajar for future holidays.
“It is a very nice idea,” committee chairwoman Louise O’Reilly of Sinn Féin admitted, before adding that it was “somewhat redundant”, given the most recent result.
She gave some hope to football fans looking for a day off in her comments. She said the committee was “not in a position to progress this petition” due to the current state of play, but added: “I know I speak on behalf of the committee, and possibly of the island, when I say that we all generally agree it will be a very good idea.”
The Committee on Public Petitions sat briefly on Tuesday morning to assess seven different petitions made by members of the public. As well as the plea for holidays for football fans there was a petition to make equal parenting time or shared parenting the default in Irish law. The committee deemed that this was beyond its remit as it fell under the authority of the courts.
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A third petition addressed Irish airspace safety concerns, another called for the reform of visa rules for parents of Irish citizens, and another for a ban on the use of AI and AI chatbots in educational environments.
[ Irish fans stumble out of a Prague pub, drunk and shell-shockedOpens in new window ]
Also before the committee was a petition to only allow cars with more than one occupant on the N11 during rush hour and one seeking the regularisation of asylum seekers who have worked and paid taxes in the state for three years or more.
With regard to the air safety issue, O’Reilly said there had been an exchange of correspondence on the matter with the Minister for Transport; she said the committee would send this to the petitioner and give them two weeks to come back with their perspective before publishing a full response.
With regard to the change in visa rules, she said the committee had written to the Department of Justice and would forward the response to the petitioner, again giving them a fortnight to consider it.
The same approach was adopted to the “very interesting” petition looking for a ban on AI in the classroom, with correspondence from the Department of Transport also being sent to the petitioner who wanted restrictions in the use of single-occupant cars on the N11 at rush hour.
“I think we’re all in agreement that there is definitely an issue with congestion, not just on the N11,” she said.
The TD pointed out that congestion was “not an easy matter to resolve” but accepted that a motorist with a full car might feel frustration when seeing other motorists travelling alone in the car beside them.
She pointed out that “there are reasons” for that, with many people not having a choice but to travel alone in their car.
The last petition was the regularisation of asylum seekers who have worked and paid taxes n the State for three years or more. The committee said it would forward a response from the Department of Justice.
O’Reilly concluded proceedings by inviting members the public to submit petitions on matters of general public concern or interest or an issue of public policy via the portal on the Oireachtas website.
