Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

Had I realised that this amendment was forthcoming, I would not have said what I did concerning the previous one. I wish to support the amendment, which reflects the importance of the complaints officer's position being totally independent. I favour the appointment of a complaints officer being made by the Ombudsman. If we leave the complaints officer in the position as outlined in the legislation, we will have somebody who is employed by the Health Service Executive and, therefore, it will be like an internal inquiry. I wonder how transparent and accountable it will be if somebody employed by the Health Service Executive is the complaints officer. No matter how independent the Minister of State may say such officers will be, once they are in that position they cannot ultimately be totally independent. The amendment would address those concerns so I am asking the Minister of State to accept it.