Oireachtas body seeks new powers

Members of the public will be able to petition the Oireachtas on matters of legislation and Government administration if new powers sought by the committee on public oversight are granted.

The committee would have investigated the banking crisis if the referendum on Oireachtas inquiries had passed. Following the defeat of that referendum last year, the committee has sought to carve out a role for itself.

Committee chairman Peadar Tóibín of Sinn Féin today conceded it would “probably” not have the powers probably necessary to carry out the banking inquiry but would have other responsibilities.

He said the committee wanted to receive and process petitions submitted to the Oireachtas by members of the public.

Overseeing public service delivery would be a priority, while the committee would also engage with the Ombudsman, he said.

The committee wants the power “to send for persons, papers and records to assist it in its work” and intends to “play a complementary role to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the area of accountability”.

Mr Tóibín said some form of restriction on the resubmission of petitions might be considered in order to prevent abuse of the system and “vexatious” petitions. He said an electronic petitions process would be developed.

Under the Scottish and Europe Parliament systems, petitioners are not automatically invited to make submissions and are only invited if the relevant committee considers that the petitioner can provide additional information.

The report by the current Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions on its future role is available here