Derek McDowell (Labour)

I take up the point made by Senator Maurice Hayes because it is crucially important. The Minister referred to the possibility of using departmental guidelines. That completely misunderstands the nature of some of the comments and recommendations of the commissioner.

The commissioner says the very constitutional definition of Government is at stake, that doubt is being cast by the way it is being redefined in the Bill before us. He says some of the definitions could create serious legal and other problems in future and have the potential to result in costly litigation, possibly involving his office. These are not trivial matters that can simply be dealt with by regulation.

The Minister said that Government will consider the views of the commissioner as set out in the report produced today. That raises the obvious question as to why has the Government not already considered the views of the commissioner.

Senator Leyden is being disingenuous in his attitude towards the role of the commissioner. The role of the commissioner, and of the ombudsman before him, was always to get stuck into the business of Government. That is what such people do; they get involved in ensuring that the administration of Government is carried on in an appropriate way. The commissioner has taken it upon himself – correctly – to comment on the working of the Act as it exists and to make recommendations on how it could be improved. He rightly says he will not tell Government what to do but he does not stop much short of that. It is proper in the circumstances to take that upon himself and he has done so.

It is not possible for us to take into account, however, the experience of the one person who knows most about the operation of the Act when deciding on the Bill because his report arrived in our pigeon holes only half an hour before Committee Stage. I appreciate the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, is playing with a ball he would prefer to avoid but we should adjourn this debate until we have an opportunity to look at the report, consider it and give the Government an opportunity to consider if amendments are appropriate, even at this early stage.