Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Clare Daly has summed up the situation very well. We, as a committee, have a duty to make the Minister accountable but, as such, we have heard from the Department.

I thank Mr. Tyndall for his response. Obviously there was a difference of opinion between the Department and the Office of the Ombudsman in terms of the prima faciecase that there had been maladministration and a narrow interpretation, as referred to by the Ombudsman. Does he know if the Department referred his letter to the Minister? Did the Department simply respond in its own right?