Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

Senator Brian Hayes is correct that we discussed the issue at some length on Committee Stage. The Bill provides that the Defence Forces ombudsman will be appointed to the office by the President, acting on the recommendation of the Government. This mirrors the mode of appointment of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces.

The amendment requires that the person appointed to the office of Defence Forces ombudsman be appointed in a similar mode to other holders of statutory offices of ombudsman, for example, the original 1980 Ombudsman or the more recent Ombudsman for Children. These offices provide a wide range of public functions which are available to the entire body of the general public, essentially the entire national population, as regards their various functions. However, the Defence Forces ombudsman has, by definition, a much more restrictive potential audience and remit, namely, the serving personnel of the Defence Forces and former such personnel, subject to the provisions of the Bill.

The remit of the Defence Forces ombudsman is restricted to matters internal to the Defence Forces, subject to the provisions of the Bill as a whole. The representative association, PDFORRA, initially wanted something along the lines of the amendment but, following consultation with my officials, it is now entirely satisfied with the existing wording of the Bill. As I already stated, having respect to all points of view, I wish to leave this provision of the Bill unchanged.

On Senator Brian Hayes's point about the commencement date, I cannot give a precise date, but it is the Government's intention to commence it as soon as practicable. We will be in contact with various people in the Department to ensure this is done. The Bill can be used side by side with the new provisions on bullying and direct contact persons, etc., for people in the Defence Forces to access. As they are part of a package, we do not want to have some of the package in place while other parts will be put in place at some indefinable time in the future. It will come into force fairly soon.

I want to make it clear that I will recommend the appointment of the ombudsman in a formal way. I intend to publicly advertise the position through the normal mechanism of the Civil Service Commission. The person will not be appointed by the Government.