Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As I said, my political instinct is that this is the right approach but there is an onus on us to question why it is happening. I may be wrong but do hospitals and the HSE have to receive ministerial approval before appointing or seeking information from consultants or advisers? I imagine not but perhaps that is the case. The Minister of State is right that the issue of consultants is a red-hot topic and I have put down many parliamentary questions regarding both consultants and advisers. I am not sure whether this section covers obtaining legal advice and so on. The Minister of State says that section 15(3) allows for the ombudsman to appoint consultants and advisers but only in accordance with section 16. Therefore, while the power is there to do so, ministerial approval is first required. As I said, my political instinct is that this is democratic accountability but I am concerned whether the office or offices raised any concern with regard to how this would play out in practice. Are there many appointments or advice sought from the Financial Services Ombudsman currently? My concern is from the consumer's point of view in terms of access to timely judgments by the office. Will the Financial Services Ombudsman or the new office will require a ministerial signature for every type of external advice it requires? The Minister of State says this is standard practice. Is it the same case in the HSE and does this also cover legal advice?