Brendan Kenneally (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Some of us may feel the decision by the Ombudsman was right and others may feel it was wrong. Many questions surround the decision in this case because it refers to compensation and a monetary figure. The scheme was not about that and instead dealt with tonnage.

As legislators we must consider whether we must change the legislation to see if other structures could be put in place and if we should strengthen the position of the Ombudsman to where a Department would have to accept the decision put forward by the Ombudsman or if we revert to a position in other jurisdictions in that we could send it to a parliamentary committee. There is no point in saying we should do this or that at the moment as we must work within the legislative structures we currently have.

I know from Deputy Fahey's comments and what the Minister of State has said that there are very grave reservations in the Department on what has transpired and the precedent that may be set for the future. As a Legislature we must consider the system as it operates from now on, not only as regards this case but with regard to the case I previously mentioned. If we do not act, we will wonder about the operation of that office in future.

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