John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

Under the Standing Orders of the House, that comment should not be allowed to stay on the record. Senator O'Sullivan just made a political charge against the Office of the Ombudsman. I like Senator O'Sullivan and get on well with him but believe his speech was absolutely shocking. I could not disagree more with it.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Connick, my neighbour.

The Ombudsman's report and the subsequent debate at meetings of the joint committee outlined fundamental flaws in our current political system. Senator O'Sullivan praised the work done by the Ombudsman, yet a very detailed report produced on the lost at sea scheme, which identified significant errors in the way the Byrne family was dealt with, was completely ignored by the Oireachtas owing to a party-political vote on foot of the whip being used at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. I reject absolutely the notion that the Ombudsman is adopting her position for political purposes, as mentioned by Senator O'Sullivan. Her role is very important and significant within the overall political system. The Ombudsman examined the facts as they were presented and, contrary to what Senator O'Sullivan stated, her contention in the report that the scheme was improperly advertised was upheld by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. One of the most fundamental aspects of her report was upheld by the committee. Far from being the issue relating to Deputy Fahey's role being discharged, the position remains somewhat clouded.

Other than having read the report and observed some of what occurred at the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, I do not know a great deal about this matter. It seems patently obvious, however, that the former Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, used the lost at sea scheme to sort out a couple of his constituents. The bottom line is that almost 30 years ago a man and his son drowned following an accident off the coast of County Donegal and the Byrne family has suffered a great deal in the intervening period. In politicising this matter and voting down or not accepting the Ombudsman's recommendations at the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Government has brought all of us into disrepute. The Byrne family has suffered enough.

There were two elements to the Ombudsman's report, namely, findings and recommendations. If the Government is serious about the maintaining the functions of the Office of the Ombudsman, it must reappraise how it deals with reports that are produced by that office. We either have an independent Ombudsman or we do not. If, for whatever reason, the majority party, and perhaps the minority party, in government does not agree with the Ombudsman, there is no point in accusing her of being affiliated to Fine Gael or stating, as Senator O'Sullivan did, that she has political aspirations.