Results 12,261-12,280 of 12,646 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I will tell the Senator afterwards.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: One of the major concerns relates to when there is some pattern of behaviour that should be investigated, yet people are gripped by fear and cannot come forward. How is that type of situation investigated? What Senator Brian Hayes says is compelling. It would be much more compelling, however, if this debate were taking place before the publication of the Doyle report, Challenge of the...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: This amendment proposes to insert into the body of the primary legislation detailed references to matters of administration which I believe would be more properly provided for at the discretion of the ombudsman. We should not micro-manage the investigation system in the primary legislation. The matters referred to do not require an insertion into the primary legislation. As Senator Minihan...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I listened carefully to what Senator O'Meara said. As I understand it her intention is to allow people to go back with complaints which originate within the 12-month period before the commencement of the Bill. The difficulty is in the way her amendment is drafted where it states, "a complaint may be made within the 12 months immediately following the commencement of this Act regarding an...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Yes, indeed. In regard to a complaint made about an action where that action predates the commencement of this legislation, the revised Bill incorporating ministerial amendments provides that such a complaint can still be referred to the Minister under section 114 of the Defence Act 1954 as at present. I draw the Senator's attention to the comprehensive ministerial amendment to section 13 of...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: It is an ombudsman.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: The proposed amendment concerns the prescribed categories of person who may complain to the Defence Forces ombudsman. The published legislation provides that complaints may be made to the Defence Forces ombudsman by serving and former members of the Defence Forces, subject to the other governing terms in the legislation. A complaint may be made in respect of a matter internal to the Defence...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Recruits and cadets are enlisted serving members. Applicants can apply to the public services Ombudsman. They can complain to the Minister for Defence in general terms in the first instance. The Ombudsman might insist on that because all other avenues must be exhausted before going to the Ombudsman. No civil servant is in the service of the Defence Forces. They are civil servants of the...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Section 10(3)(a) prescribes the powers of the Minister to give written notice to the Defence Forces ombudsman to preclude disclosure other than to the ombudsman and his office any specified documentation, information, etc., on grounds that any such disclosure would be prejudicial to the public interest or security. The Senator's amendment seeks to remove the public interest ground. In the...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: —— statement as to why, in the opinion of the Minister, that disclosure would be prejudicial to the public interest or to security. Section 10 deals with the important matter of secrecy of information, a sensitive matter given that the Defence Forces ombudsman will by definition be involved in the investigation of complaints originating in the military environment. Notwithstanding this,...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I will examine that issue. My intention is that the Minister will have to give notice in writing of his reasons for asking the ombudsman to suppress the information. I will consider that point.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: The ombudsman will be given the power to challenge that if he or she so wishes.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I am a fully paid-up member of the plain English society. There seems to be some confusion about the definition of the term "civil servant". The Bill provides generally that the term "civil servant" has the meaning assigned to it by the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: That is the same definition as that in the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 and the Ombudsman Act 1980.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Section 14 of the Bill deals specifically with civil servants who will be employed in the new office of the ombudsman of the Defence Forces. The provisions of the section reflect the corresponding provisions of section 10 of the Ombudsman Act 1980 and section 21 of the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 in providing that, "a member of staff of the Ombudsman shall be a civil servant in the Civil...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Yes.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: One does not have to read many documents together because all the legislation has been codified or restated recently.

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Senator Hayes is aware that the general body of defence legislation has recently been the subject of a published restatement. A comprehensive restatement of the Defence Acts 1954 to 1998 and the Courts Martial Appeals Act 1983 was published some months ago. It is intended that the general body of the Defence Acts should be the subject of critical review and scrutiny in the immediate future...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Senator Brian Hayes has generously acknowledged that we recently completed a major consolidation and restatement exercise. The Bill before the House amends just one section of the Defence Act 1954. It should not require a significant amount of imagination, ability or insight to read the substantial existing restatement in conjunction with a single additional Act. We will be conscious of this...

Seanad: Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill 2002: Committee Stage. (13 Oct 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I thank Senator Brian Hayes for his good wishes. I accept that the amendment and all his proposed amendments are put forward with the best intentions to achieve the best legislation. I accept that Fine Gael was very supportive of the idea of an ombudsman for the Defence Forces and put forward suggestions in the Lower House which improved the Bill. I hope the Senator does not take it as a...