Ms Josephine Feehily:

I want to pick up in the ombudsman comment. I do not see any reason any organisation that had such a report - leaving aside Deputy Berry's comments about the elements of it, as it was accepted by the Defence Forces - would not want to say that if there is not confidence in its complaints service, to be aware that while it is having legislation prepared and is trying to figure out a new complaints service, that there is an Ombudsman for the Defence Forces.

I was not bashing anybody. I was simply saying that I found it surprising that in the DNA of the organisation, in the mess and in the chatter, there seemed to be a feeling that one had to go through the chain of command, and that was where the confidence issue was, at best, weak and dented. If I were an employer who had that problem, I would be rushing to get an external person. They have got one and it is called the ombudsman. That was the context in which I made remarks and I just wanted to explain that. Apart from anything else, in most public sector bodies at the end of appeal letters and so on, people have to be told that if they do not like what is going on with their tax or social protection affairs, that the ombudsman is there. This is quite a normal practice and it is not a sign of any weakness or of a problem to direct people to an ombudsman. It is quite normal.