Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

The State owes a particular debt of gratitude to one of the finest public servants the country has ever had, Mr. Kevin Murphy, the former Ombudsman. We should reflect on his remarks yesterday. He clearly stated that it is incumbent on Governments and Ministers to take responsibility for areas for which they are responsible. Mr. Murphy also highlighted another issue, namely, parliamentary scrutiny. Many of the inquiries we have had would not have been necessary had there been proper parliamentary scrutiny. Far too often — I say this about all Governments in recent years — we have seen a centralised approach where the chief executive of the Government, the Taoiseach, and his Ministers operate in a way whereby everyone else is excluded. We must take Mr. Murphy's comments on parliamentary scrutiny on board.

Are there too many Oireachtas committees given that Members must spend much time attending committees and plenary sessions with not much effective work being done? Too often the committee system is seen as a method of patronage for chairmen, vice-chairmen and Whips. In that context, we also need to look at a relaxation of the Whip system. There is much talent on both sides of this House but, because the Whip is used by the groups and the parties, too often we do not hold Government to account. Will the Leader make a statement on the current state of the Seanad reform proposals which she, I and others presented to the House last year? What exactly is happening? This House has a considerable role to play in terms of parliamentary scrutiny.

Over the weekend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland sent Mr. Kelly, one of those responsible for the Shankill bombing, back to prison because in his view, he broke the terms of the licence on which he was freed following the Good Friday Agreement. The prisoner release programme happened in both jurisdictions. As I understand it we do not have the same facility in this jurisdiction to put back into prison those who may be outside the terms of their release whereas in Northern Ireland the Secretary of State holds that power. The Government needs to look at this issue. If persons have been released from prison in this jurisdiction and are doing things outside the terms of their release, we need to have the same protection in this jurisdiction as is the case in Northern Ireland.