Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motions concerning the appointment of a new Ombudsman and Information Commissioner. I support the nomination of Mr. Tyndall for these posts. I hope there will not be a division in the House on this matter but if one is called, I will support the appointment of Mr. Tyndall.

I have listened carefully to the Minister and acknowledge that there have been some improvements in the appointment process. Regarding Mr. Tyndall himself, I acknowledge that he was the Ombudsman in Wales for a number of years. He is originally from Dublin, which is no harm. He was appointed as public service Ombudsman in Wales in 2008 after a selection procedure that was conducted by the Welsh Assembly itself. Ultimately, I would like to see such a procedure adopted by this House in the context of the next appointment of Ombudsman and Commissioner for Information, whereby people could apply for the posts to the House, perhaps through the Oireachtas Commission, a relevant Oireachtas committee or the line Department or some other mechanism of the House's choosing.

I would recommend that process for the appointment of the new Secretary General of the Oireachtas rather than a diktat coming from the Government.

It was good the Ombudsman-designate, Mr. Peter Tyndall, attended the Oireachtas committee last week. However, his appointment had already been decided by the Government, so he was in to be introduced rather than to be interviewed. It would be a much better practice if prospective candidates could be interviewed by relevant Oireachtas Members and public users of the offices in question. Despite the traditional shortcomings in the appointment process, I believe we have always got the right answer. I wish Ms Emily O’Reilly every success in her new role as European Ombudsman. It is a significant challenge and highlights the calibre of our people who can stand with the best anyone in the EU can offer. I recall meeting her predecessor, Mr. Kevin Murphy, here in the Oireachtas. The first Ombudsman, Mr. Michael Mills, was a county man of my own from Mountmellick. We have been well served by previous officeholders. I hope the same will happen with Mr. Peter Tyndall and, when he comes to retire, it will be acknowledged in the Chamber that he did a good job.

His role in Ireland will be larger than the one he had in Wales. He will also have to fulfil the role of the Information Commissioner, a separate, distinct and important function. I note there has been a slight reduction, 1%, in the office’s expenditure for next year. I hope Mr. Tyndall will be able to make ends meet with the limited resources available to him. We will have to take the cut on the chin and get on with it. The Ombudsman will be a member of the Commission for Public Service Appointments. While I suspect that role has been quiet in recent times, when the public sector recruitment embargo is lifted, it will become a busier part of the Ombudsman’s work.

The Ombudsman is also involved with the Constituency Commission. That is an important and different function. The commission needs to be removed from the cut and thrust of politics in the Chamber. While it examines population figures for constituency make-up on a factual, cold and hard basis, it should take into account the consideration of local geographic and social factors.

The key role for an Ombudsman is membership of the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO. Its role has increased enormously in recent times. It deals not just with donations to political parties but has greater levels of scrutiny in election expenditure. There has also been a reduction in the amounts that can be contributed to political parties. The commission deals with the auditing of the party leaders’ allowances. There will be legislation to ensure the Independent leaders’ allowance will be amended. This will apply to Independents in the Seanad too. For some curious reason, this had escaped public attention but the genie is now out of the bottle. I am happy the Minister will be introducing this legislation shortly.

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