Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. Regarding the power of the Ombudsman, I was a member of this committee in the previous Dáil and we received petitions which might cross over three Departments. Sometimes the petition would be referred to the three Departments and we might get one reply, then we do not know what ombudsman we are going to. Is there a system which we can tweak so that we can be more prudent? As Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring was saying, it is about producing something similar to the report. People do not realise how busy this committee can actually be. Much of it is important. We need a system where we can join up with the Ombudsman and the Department and convey that urgency so that we can get our replies faster and get them to the petitioners. Is there anywhere in a memorandum or the rules where we can set out our rules and state how we will do things from now on, which people which then be bound by? It would make it more efficient for all of us because it can be frustrating.

In this current climate, it is probably even more frustrating because getting information seems to have slowed down, and people outside this House are getting more frustrated and demanding. They want the answers yesterday but the way the process works makes it difficult. If we had a set of rules stating what the process is, at least one could go back to a constituent or petitioner and apologise if it is not going fast enough, but say that these are the rules and regulations. We would cover ourselves as well as everybody else. It would set out that from now on, things will not get lost on a shelf and have somebody ask where his or her reply is four months later. Is there some way to have that?