Ms Saoirse Brady:

On accountability to the Oireachtas we welcome that this Bill will allow the chief inspector to lay his or her reports before the Houses of the Oireachtas rather than give them to the Minister for Justice because, as Deputy Daly pointed out, we have seen with the Dóchas reports that they remain unpublished because of legal advice to the Minister. We also think the perception of independence is extremely important. Other bodies such as the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for Children report directly to the Oireachtas rather than to the Department itself. That is important.

With regard to the point on duplication, HIQA should be designated as an MPM in its own right. It inspects Oberstown as well as all the other things that were mentioned. I believe that is crucial. We hope that the committee will have HIQA and IHREC before it as well because they are key to this functioning well.

The budget issue is important. Part of the reason for it to be independent is that at the moment justice agencies have to ask the Department for permission if they are spending more than €25,000 on IT. That can delay things. When trying to get a body up and running, as we have seen with the Parole Board, for example, there needs to be that independence and freedom to allocate resources as seen fit within the body.