Mr. Peter Tyndall:

It is an enormous privilege to serve as Ombudsman in Ireland. It is a job where you feel you have the opportunity to make a difference. I am pleased to have had that opportunity. There are areas in the broader work of the office which have been particularly rewarding for me. I was pleased to sit as a member of the referendum commission during some key referendums that have taken place during my time in office. That was a great privilege. I am pleased to see some change is happening there and the electoral commission is being established. That will take some of the work that currently sits with the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO.

My office provides support to SIPO, including in the context of the ethics legislation. I have never known anything more unfit for purpose than our current ethics legislation. Having to assemble four of the busiest people in the country, namely, the clerks of both Houses, the Comptroller and Auditor General and me, along with two independent members to hear cases about supposed cheating on travel expenses is ridiculous. The moves to reform ethics legislation must not be left any longer. SIPO had no possibility of doing anything in respect of sanction. There were no sanctions. It is legislation that is completely not fit for purpose and needs to be replaced as quickly as possible.

I am pleased to see the ongoing work on reform of freedom of information. I hope it leads to all bodies in receipt of substantial public funding being properly brought into the ambit of the legislation and proper resourcing to enable public bodies to respond to the requirements of individuals for transparency and openness.

I have had an opportunity in the course of what I have been saying to highlight some of the outstanding issues. The number of systemic investigations has been more restricted than I would have wanted because of resource issues, and this touches on some of the issues that have been raised by members of the committee. As part of the review of the legislation, creating as other offices do the possibility of having a team of people who can take on those big hard-hitting and impactful investigations would be a very big step forward. At the moment people have to be taken away from the day job in order to do them. This limits the capacity to do that.

It has been a very fulfilling opportunity for me to work as Ombudsman. It is not too many public officials who can say that they have enjoyed their attendance at committees and their engagement with committees. It has been a very productive engagement with this committee, and I hope the members will continue to keep these issues in the public eye as time goes on. Thank you very much.