Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If one thinks, in the first instance, of what the situation might be if the complainant went to the courts rather than to the ombudsman, both sides would present their case but the judge would not engage with either

side and at the end would decide and adjudicate. Here, the process is more quasi-judicial but there is also mediation. We would envisage that there could be a dialogue between the complainant and the institution about which the complaint was made to see if a satisfactory resolution could be arrived at. The power, referred to in section 4 of head 43, is already in the current legislation.