Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I move amendment No. 107:

In page 49, subsection (1), lines 19 to 26, to delete all words from and including "Commission—" in line 19 and substitute "Commission by any member of the public".

The purpose of this amendment is to allow any member of the public to make a complaint to the ombudsman commission. I feel this would be a better situation and would promote more confidence in the Garda Síochána than the technical rule of the Bill, as it stands, on the issue of who can make a complaint. Section 75(1) states:

Subject to section 76, a complaint concerning any conduct of a member of the Garda Síochána that is alleged to constitute misbehaviour may be made to the Ombudsman Commission—

(a) by a member of the public who is directly affected by, or who witnesses, the conduct, or,

(b) on behalf of that member of the public, by any other person if the member of the public on whose behalf the complaint is being made consents in writing or orally to its being made . . .

That procedure is similar to how one might make a complaint to the Ombudsman regarding county councils. The wording needs to be broadened in the case of the ombudsman commission, as it does for the Ombudsman. It is relevant to Members of the Oireachtas. For example, before I, as a Member of the Oireachtas, could make a complaint to the Ombudsman about a county council, I would have to obtain the consent of the person affected. There may be reasons people might not want to give me that consent, or may not want to make the complaint themselves. However, as a public representative, I might feel the issue should be raised with the Ombudsman.

The same applies with regard to the Garda Síochána. My point does not only apply to Members of the Oireachtas because others may feel similarly that a complaint should be made to the Ombudsman about a particular matter but they are not directly linked in the way outlined in section 75. The Minister should consider amending the section in the manner suggested by the Labour Party.