Mr. Ger Deering:

A review would look at that. For example, I mentioned the Venice Principles. Indeed, the Deputy mentioned the fact my post was advertised and went through the Public Appointments Service. That would be one of the Venice Principles. Like the Deputy, I commend the Minister and the Department because they are applying the Venice Principles and, indeed, the office is applying the principles, which are a set of 25 principles around transparency, independence, fairness and all of the things an ombudsman office should hold.

It might be said we do not need the legislation because we are already doing these things. While that is not a problem, there is an issue, which I mentioned and I hope we do not ever see it in Ireland, in that in some parts of the world and in the EU there is a rowing back in those situations. It is always good to have something as fundamental and as important as these principles enshrined in legislation so that it does not depend on the Minister or Ombudsman of the day to ensure these things happen. It is always best to have these kinds of important principles enshrined in the legislation.