Maurice Hayes (Independent)

I found this section hard to understand in the general tenor of the Bill, which is to provide for a system of investigation of complaints that would have public confidence and that would be open and transparent. All of a sudden power is given to other people to block the ombudsman at a critical point in an investigation.

One of the difficulties in the old situation in Northern Ireland was that the Chief Constable could decide what was or was not a complaint. This is the same. I am not saying that either a Minister or a Garda Commissioner would in any way collude in the covering up of matters but delay and complexity are being interposed. There organisations have their own means of disseminating information and grapevines work in such a way that sometimes people must get in quickly to ensure evidence is secured. The greater the delay and the more the complication, the more difficult it becomes. It would be a better Bill if this section were removed.

I can see the need for some sensible agreement between the ombudsman and the Garda Commissioner on protocols about how these things would be advanced so people would not be swinging from the rafters in Garda stations at all hours of the day and night. Nevertheless, it has been made complicated and it might go some way not only towards defeating the purpose of the Bill but of reducing its impact in the public mind in terms of independence.