Sinn Féin TD to chair petitions committee

Sinn Féin TD justice spokesman Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has been elected as the new chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Oversight and Petitions.

The Donegal North East deputy succeeds his party colleague Peadar Tóibín, a TD for Meath West, in the role.

Mr Tóibín was stripped of the chairmanship last month for a breach of party discipline. He failed to sign a Sinn Féin motion calling for the Government to legislate on the X Case and also failed to turn up to vote with the party on proposed abortion legislation in November.

He said he believed the X Case judgment was flawed and that if enacted in legislation it could lead to the liberalisation of abortion in Ireland.

Mr Toibin is no longer listed as a member of the committee.

At a meeting of the committee today, Mr Mac Lochlainn thanked his fellow members for electing him as chairman. He said he hoped to lead the committee in becoming a "robust champion on behalf of the citizens we serve".

Mr Mac Lochlainn is now entitled to a €9,500 annual allowance as chairman of the joint committee and a further annual allocation of €2,539 for entertainment purposes.

Established after the 2011 general election as a cornerstone of Government reform promises, the committee was given powers to deal with reports from the Ombudsman, the Children's Ombudsman, the Defence Forces Ombudsman and An Coimisinéir Teanga in much the same way as the public accounts committee deals with Comptroller and Auditor General reports.

After the defeat of the referendum on Oireachtas inquiries in October 2011, the functions of the committee were somewhat watered down and it had to set out revised orders of reference.

The committee last year established a public petitions system under which it said it would assess submissions received from citizens and examine issues raised with a view to finding ways to improve the delivery of public services.

Admissible petitions cannot relate to matters where court proceedings have been initiated; name specific individuals; contain defamatory language or be frivolous or vexatious in nature. The person submitting must show they have taken other steps to resolve the issue raised in their petition, such as bringing the matter to the Ombudsman or relevant public body or Government department.