Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 117:

In page 63, lines 20 to 26, to delete subsection (4).

This amendment is about presentation but it concerns a very important matter. The power of the ombudsman commission to initiate an investigation of its own volition has been crucial. This power is one of the cornerstones of an independent investigative body such as that proposed. Such is its importance that it should be highlighted in a section of its own and not hidden away in another. The scope of the commission's power to investigate a matter should not be limited to circumstances in which a member of the force has behaved badly. It should be open to the commission to investigate policing matters generally.