Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 8, before section 5, to insert the following new section:

5.(1) The Ombudsman shall provide the following persons with sufficient information to keep them informed of the progress and results of an investigation under this Act if the investigation resulted from a complaint—

(i) the complainant,

(ii) the member of the Defence Forces whose conduct is the subject matter of the complaint,

(iii) the Adjutant General, and

(iv) any other person that the Ombudsman considers has a sufficient interest in the matter.

(2) The duties imposed by subsection (1) do not extend to requiring the Ombudsman to provide information the disclosure of which would, in its opinion——

(a) prejudice a criminal investigation or prosecution,

(b) jeopardise a person's safety, or

(c) for any other reason not be in the public interest.".

This amendment seeks to add a new subsection at the end of the section dealing with the functions of the ombudsman. The ombudsman's functions are clearly set out but one of the aspects he or she should adhere to is the right of people to be kept informed. If a complaint was made against me I would like to know about it in due time. Equally, the complainant needs to be kept informed of the ongoing investigation but there is no reference to that in the Bill. We are attempting to set out, in this section concerning the functions of the ombudsman, a legislative duty that the ombudsman shall keep people informed about the process of an investigation. No one is putting a time limit on that but in the interests of fairness, complainants and those at whom a complaint is directed have a right to know what is going on.

We state in subsection (2) paragraph (a) of the amendment that this should not prejudice a criminal investigation or jeopardise a person's safety. We also refer to the public interest. We believe there is a responsibility on the ombudsman to be fair in terms of the procedures.

The Minister might say he intends to do that by way of an instrument but am I right in saying our amendment mirrors section 95 of the Garda Bill he referred to in terms of the duties on the ombudsman to keep people informed of the stage of the complaint in terms of logging the system? If a complaint was made against me and 12 months later I had heard nothing about it, I would be peeved. There is a responsibility on the complainant, and for the person against whom the complaint is directed, to ensure that person is informed of what is taking place. That will ensure fairness and transparency in the new procedure we are setting out.