Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move the following motions:

That Dáil Éireann recommends Mr. Peter Tyndall for appointment by the President to be the Ombudsman.

and

That Dáil Éireann recommends Mr. Peter Tyndall for appointment by the President to be the Information Commissioner.

I will not require the 15 minutes allowed but will be happy to respond to any questions Deputies may have at the conclusion of our discussions.

I have much pleasure in recommending to the House that Mr. Peter Tyndall be appointed by the President to be the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner. The need for these appointments arises following the resignation of Ms Emily O'Reilly from both offices from 29 September 2013 on foot of her election by the European Parliament as European Ombudsman. Ms O'Reilly had served in both offices from June 2003, having been reappointed in 2009. The separate legislation which governs each of these offices specifies that the appointment is made by the President, but only after this House and the Seanad have passed resolutions recommending that a particular person be appointed. I can advise the House that the resolutions were passed in the Seanad earlier today. The appointments are for six years and can be renewed, but only by going through the same resolution and appointment procedure.

I would like to take the opportunity again to congratulate Ms Emily O'Reilly on her election as European Ombudsman and commend her on the work she did in this jurisdiction. The exemplary work she did stood her in good stead in securing the very difficult task of winning the votes of the majority of the European Parliament to be the European Ombudsman against stiff opposition, including from members of the Parliament itself. All Members of this House will wish Ms O'Reilly God speed in the new role she is undertaking.

The proposition before the House is to appoint Mr. Peter Tyndall. Mr. Tyndall is originally from Ireland and the Acting Chairman, Deputy Mathews will be pleased to note he is a Dub. He has retained close links with this country in his years abroad. He comes to this post with a wealth of relevant experience. He has been Ombudsman for Wales since 2008. His office deals with complaints concerning public organisations responsible for delivering services devolved to the Welsh Government from Whitehall, including health, social care housing and local government. He has devoted considerable effort to modernising the systems in his office with a view to providing prompt effective resolution of complex cases and to ensuring that his office acted as a catalyst for improvement in public services. In his tenure as Ombudsman for Wales, Mr. Tyndall was able to draw on decades of experience in various fields of public service in Wales. Before he became Welsh Ombudsman, he was Chief Executive of the Welsh Arts Council and prior to his work with the Arts Council, he was Head of Education and Culture for the Welsh Local Government Association. He enjoys very substantial respect among his ombudsman peers and recently served a two-year term as Chairman of the British and Irish Ombudsman Association and is a member of the World and European boards of the International Ombudsman Institute.

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