Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I wish to share time with Senator Norris. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Connick, and congratulate him again on his appointment as Minister of State with the responsibility for the marine. Last Wednesday, when he and I appeared on "The Late Debate" with Rachael English, I told him his brief is significant and offers considerable potential to re-boot the rural economy if we review the manner in which we do our business in marine matters. The Minister of State and I both come from marine constituencies and I look forward to interacting with him and his Department. One of the first issues on his agenda will be imports but that is a topic for another debate. I wish him well in his new role.

I propose to focus on the mechanics and politics of the issue raised in the motion rather than examining it in forensic detail. I welcome the decision by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to issue an invitation to the Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly - the titles are a contradiction in terms - to attend a meeting of the joint committee to discuss her special report. The invitation is important from the point of a view of parliamentary democracy and the relevance of the work of the Houses of the Oireachtas. The joint committee must have a full and frank discussion with an exchange of views and a question and answer session. It would also be a worthwhile exercise if the meeting discussed the Ombudsman's recent comments on how the Oireachtas conducts its business and the relevance of both Houses. While the decision to extend the invitation to the Ombudsman is timely, some of the grandstanding we have had on this issue could have been avoided if it had been issued sooner.

The manner in which the Oireachtas conducts its business and the need to reform Dáil and Seanad Éireann have been the subject of much recent debate. The Private Members' motion tabled by the Independent Members on the case of Mr. Dónal de Róiste recently was a fine example of the good work done by this House. The motion resulted in a some movement on the case after many years. This demonstrated that the Seanad can achieve results, although I accept the matter has not reached a conclusion.

I note the former Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Frank Fahey, joins us in the Visitors Gallery. Clearly, he has a strong interest in the matter. Much has been said about the issue before the House and I do not propose to dwell on the politics involved. Irrespective of the Ombudsman's views on the manner in which the scheme in question was initiated and operated and its rights and wrongs, it is imperative she come to the House to discuss her report on the scheme in question. It says a great deal about the parliamentary system that the Ombudsman has intervened only twice in 25 years and the only other issue on which she intervened, a revenue matter, was kicked to touch in a committee.

It is important that the House discuss the role of external agencies in Oireachtas business. For instance, I recently called on the Attorney General to come to the House to provide information to which the Taoiseach referred when an issue was raised with him in the other House. On other occasions, I have asked that we repeat the worthwhile exercise of having various MEPs come to the House. We can avail of the expertise of other organs of the State in the context of reform of the Houses. We could, for instance, invite officeholders such as the Ombudsman to appear before the Seanad on a frequent basis to engage in full and frank exchanges of views on various issues.

This is a worthwhile motion, although this morning's decision by the joint committee to issue an invitation to the Ombudsman probably takes some of the heat out of it. I look forward to interaction with the Ombudsman when we discuss this matter in the joint committee.