Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the Ombudsman. I should have read my documentation in advance of coming to the meeting, but I did not so. Therefore, I will ask baby questions.

Whom does the Ombudsman represent? Is it MEPs, the European Parliament or national parliaments? How does she represent 28 countries in Europe?

The Ombudsman spoke about the TTIP trade agreement between Europe and America. Did she decide to carry out the investigation to achieve transparency in the debate? In a general sense, can she pick a topic to investigate or is she asked to do so by a particular organisation or structured grouping? In other words, who can call on her services? I would have thought an ombudsman would look at the pros and cons of an argument, or the fairness of something, and decide one way or another. Does she initiate the work or is there a pathway to her office?

There are 500 million people in Europe and 28 countries with different levels of parliamentary democracy. To whom does the Ombudsman make her reports? Are they invariably sent to those who initiate action by her or are they sent to the Parliament?

I am sorry for the baby questions, but, as I said, I did not have time to read the documentation provided.