John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

We are glad to have a new Minister of State in County Kilkenny.

I lend my support to the Fine Gael motion which serves as an indicator of the value of Seanad Éireann because I do not believe the committee would have accepted the proposal that it discuss the lost at sea report if this motion had not been put before the Seanad this evening. I do not see the purpose of the amendment; the objective of the motion was to have the report discussed by an Oireachtas committee and now it will be. The amendment leaves open the option for the issue to be discussed in committee.

The Office of the Ombudsman is an important one. Senators on all sides have said they have recommended to those in their areas that they make use of it, as I have done in the past. The Ombudsman has made a serious criticism of the way in which we do our business in the Houses of the Oireachtas and there is a degree of truth in what she says. This issue fell down purely on party political grounds in the debate in the other House. It is right and proper that the Ombudsman and the public who have such faith in her position would expect consideration of her report by an Oireachtas committee. As that has now been decided upon, I do not see the purpose in our having a division on the issue. The objective will be fulfilled in any case.

I was struck by the mention of the Byrne family by a number of contributors. They are the people at the heart of the report. I will not get involved in a discussion on the merits of the conclusions made by the Ombudsman in her report. That will be decided by the committee. However, for that family, it is a matter of life and death and they are entitled to every process that can be carried out on their behalf. They went to the Ombudsman in good faith and she decided that they had a case. She pursued the only avenue she could which was to lay the report which I have read before the Houses of the Oireachtas. She considered, as do the family, that the report had not been given due consideration by the Oireachtas. That is the purpose of the motion before the House. The desired result has already, in effect, been achieved, in that the committee has agreed to discuss the report. Therefore, we should not have a division on the matter at this stage. Let us leave aside, for once, petty party political squabbling and agree that the report will be examined by the committee in order that this family who have suffered enough will receive a fair hearing of their understandable grievances.