Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Speaking in my other role, I welcome the report. I shall not go over ground that others have covered on the discretionary medical card and the mobility allowance. I am interested in two areas. The first is the outstanding cases which Emily O'Reilly as Ombudsman had raised over the years and which to date have not been fully concluded. We have just talked about one of them, the mobility allowance, but others have been raised. One that jumps out at me and which I have raised here, and I know that it is still being pursued, is the Lost at Sea scheme. Is there continuing tracking of those matters on which the Government did not take action or fully deal with in the years since the Office of the Ombudsman has been making annual reports?

The second area is one which the committee should look at and where it may be able to help the Ombudsman. The report mentions the idea of a public services Ombudsman as opposed to a public sector Ombudsman. It is an interesting suggestion; I had not thought of it in that way before. The distinction is correct, because we are dealing with a lot of privatisation or contracting out of public services. There are plans for further contracting out. I do not know whether the Ombudsman is aware of JobPath, a scheme run by the Department of Social Protection. A tender process has been completed, but we do not know the result. The services which those who are unemployed will be able to avail themselves of in trying to get back into employment will be contracted out to a private sector organisation, or perhaps a combination of the private and public sector. Once a provider of those services goes beyond the public sector, it is more difficult for us in the Dáil to hold it to account. Obviously, the same applies to the Office of the Ombudsman in many ways. Mr. Tyndall mentioned waste services. Anyone who lives in Dublin will understand the chaos that has ensued since responsibility for collection and disposal has passed to a private company. While the overall responsibility for waste management still lies with the council, it is only in so much that it ensures that it is done rather than ensuring that standards are kept up. We should look at whether it is a major change for legislation and what the options are in other things. Perhaps Mr. Tyndall would elaborate on what was a detailed part of his presentation.