Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I appreciate the Minister's argument against the amendment. His suggestion is, in effect, that this appointment follows the same route as that of the Chief of Staff and we should accept it. However, the job description of the Defence Forces ombudsman is different, a point which goes to the heart of other proposed amendments which deal with the remit of the ombudsman. While I understand the Minister's point, it is bad practice in regard to any high level appointment, in particular when the seal of the President must be affixed before the nomination is granted, that neither of the Houses nor a committee of the Oireachtas would debate or sanction the nomination.

I am not suggesting the Bill is the only example of such bad practice. This country must move to a system where there is genuine parliamentary scrutiny of decisions taken by Government. The Government has the right to make the decision but the Oireachtas has a right not to veto the decision, but to give sanction and support to it. The way to achieve this, which the office holder would appreciate, is through some form of resolution and a debate in both Houses. We might return to this on Report Stage.