Mr. Tony McCourt:

The Inspector General role is more appropriate to this kind of inspection and internal operation within the Defence Forces. In my own career, I do recall one officer being appointed as Inspector General. I am not sure he was assigned by the Government. He was a very senior officer, who had recently returned from a very senior UN command role. I think shortly before he was due to retire he was appointed as Inspector General. However, I do not think he was given that sort of inspection role one would expect an Inspector General to have. With regard to extending my role, as ombudsman, in that area, I am not sure about general inspections but I do have power in my investigative role to go to barracks, seek documents, examine records and so on. Perhaps one of the powers that needs to be strengthened concerns access to documentation. That might be an area that needs to be further strengthened.

We have an excellent system in the redress of wrongs system within the Defence Forces. It has been there since 1922. However, we should explore the possibility of the ombudsman having some involvement in that at an earlier stage rather than the final appeal stage. I would be glad to see the good offices of my office being made available to assist at a much earlier stage so that complaints could be resolved more swiftly than they are at the moment. That would be possible, in a review of the two systems; the redress of wrongs system under the Defence Act and the ombudsman regime under the 2004 Act. There are possibilities there to bring a more unified system of complaint investigation. There would be a lot interest groups who would need to have an input and agree on that before it could be implemented.