Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House and wish him well on his appointment. On being appointed, the Minister was handed a Bill which had gone through all Stages in the Dáil. It is now before the Seanad. This poses a certain difficulty in that if the House approves any amendment, the Bill will have to go back to the Dáil, although that is not a great difficulty. However, from my contacts with the organisations involved, they have no objections in this regard.

I can see the merit of the amendment. Approval by the Dáil and Seanad gives the position a certain status, which is more than a technicality. I am not sure if the Minister would wish the Bill to be delayed and my contacts with the representative bodies suggest they want it passed as quickly as possible. I do not want it delayed and am certain Senator Brian Hayes agrees. However, I reiterate that the proposal has merit and would give a certain independence to the role of ombudsman which may have been overlooked. That the appointment would be approved by both Houses would give the ombudsman extra status. Nonetheless, given the necessity for a speedy passage of the Bill and my commitment to the representative organisations, I will leave it to the Minister to decide the best course of action.