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

The commission has been diligent in pursuing electoral candidates who have not reported their expenditure during elections and registering third parties involved in promoting a point of view during a campaign. We have a much regulated financial system for donations to and the expenditure of political parties and candidates.

It was intended that the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner would merge with the Information Commissioner. However, this was deferred some time ago due to external factors. Will the Minister inform us if it is still off the agenda? The role of the Data Protection Commissioner is increasing. Only today, I heard him again on the radio on his role with the many multinationals headquartered here in Ireland such as Google. I believe the two offices have separate and distinct roles.

In the past, it was proposed that the back office facilities of the Information Commissioner would be merged with those of the Ombudsman for Children. Has this been done already? I would be concerned with such an amalgamation as both offices have totally different tasks. Will the Minister inform us either at the end of the debate or through correspondence as to where this proposal stands? Where stands the legislation on foot of the passing of the children’s referendum last year?

Approximately 3,500 complaints are made to the Ombudsman each year, the largest number concern the Department of Social Protection, local authorities and the Health Service Executive, HSE. The Ombudsman legislation was amended last year to extend its remit to an additional 180 bodies which means it now covers over 300 bodies. One regret the outgoing Ombudsman, Ms Emily O’Reilly, had concerned her detailed investigation into the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant which highlighted it was in breach of legislation while it was operated in an inequitable and illegal manner. She felt the Government’s right response to a report such as that would be to deal with whatever was illegal and put the scheme on a proper footing. However, the Government took the worst-case option and abolished the scheme in its entirety. Anyone following this matter did not expect such a course of action and it needs to be dealt with.

The Office of the Ombudsman issues very few reports and becomes frustrated at the lack of response from Departments. I ask, as a matter of policy, that all Ministers ensure their Departments accept and fully implement any decision of an Ombudsman regarding a matter in their remit. If they have an issue, they should give it extra time and tease it out. The Office of the Ombudsman might make an incorrect legal interpretation but rather than having a stand-off, a report printed, a committee debate and a Department refusing to implement a decision, I would like to see those matters fully thrashed out and Departments agreeing to implement whatever recommendations come forth.

We spoke about extending the Ombudsman's role, and this is a key issue. I have just referred to the new legislation that extended the role, but, surprisingly, the postal services provided by An Post were removed from the Office of the Ombudsman's remit from 2 August 2011. Other An Post services including savings schemes and the issuing of television licences were removed from its remit from 1 November 2012. People who had complaints about these An Post services were able to go to the Ombudsman before but they are now dealt with by ComReg. Will the Minister outline the legal mechanism by which that was done? Was there a statutory instrument to remove an organisation from the Ombudsman's remit?

What other public bodies have been removed from the Ombudsman's remit recently of which the public might not be aware? What other cases are in the pipeline? We have a plethora of regulators. If ComReg has roles in these areas and the Ombudsman will not now have a role, we must examine whether we are satisfied that ComReg will be as independent as an Ombudsman would be in dealing with cases in that area.

The role of Information Commissioner is also a key function of Mr. Tyndall. I look forward to him having a good, robust and open approach to that. In her final report on 2012 earlier this summer Ms O'Reilly noted that there had been a 38% increase in the number of FOI reviews and applications by her office in 2012. It is good to see an increase and people using the office. We will have a detailed discussion on the FOI Bill on Committee Stage next week and I spent the last hour dealing with a number of amendments, all of which I hope will be taken on board by the Minister next week.

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