Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I do not wish to criticise the model adopted in Northern Ireland but, for instance, the equivalent body for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police comprises three persons while in Britain a significant number of members make up its equivalent commission. This issue is one of practicality. The House should consider a few of the features of the legislation, one of which is that the ombudsman commission can delegate its functions to any of its members. If, for instance, an investigation takes up significant time and resources, one member of the commission can have that function delegated to him or her while the others deal with the day-to-day correspondence with the office. If a member is on holidays or is hospitalised, continuity will be provided. Somebody will be available that afternoon to decide whether a specific police station should be searched or whether a person should be arrested. He or she will not operate under a general mandate of the ombudsman.

One can argue the toss on this but a strong argument has been made, which was repeated by Senator Tuffy, that an identifiable person should be appointed as a figurehead of the service but I regret that the service will have a substantial volume of business. It will not be one in which the individual will have a hands-on approach to every matter. With a 14,000 strong force — which will soon be in place — the ombudsman commission will have a significant volume of business with which to deal. There is nothing to be lost and everything to be gained by providing a flexible model of three people capable of exercising the role of ombudsman and delegating to themselves, or in certain other respects, to their officers any of their functions.

One can draw analogies, as Senator Mansergh said, between the Special Criminal Court and the Diplock courts. Are we happier that there are three people in the former rather than one? Most people would be, although I note some members of Sinn Féin said recently they are happier with the Diplock courts than with the Special Criminal Court. One takes one's choice.

In the Court of Criminal Appeal, for instance, to take a judicial model, there are three people but only one judgment is pronounced. Frequently the media reports it as a judgment of the presiding judge because he or she delivers the judgment. That is not so — it is a three-person decision in which the presiding judge may be in a minority but if so is obliged to deliver the judgment without disclosing that fact. That is how that system works.

There are three Revenue Commissioners and three Commissioners of Public Works, and one can talk about commissions until one is blue in the face. Sometimes one person is made a commissioner such as the Information Commissioner, sometimes three people are made commissioners. There is no golden rule that states only one person can function in this way. For example, if we had a significant volume of business for the Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner, I could well imagine those jobs being carried out by a multi-person commission.

This is not a point of high principle. There is much argumentation on each side. Are the Canadians wrong to have a three-person body for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police? Is that inferior to what has happened in Northern Ireland?