Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply to my question. I do not fully buy his answer, however, because, as a member of the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, I understand the Ombudsman's role as the last chance saloon for people with grievances. Such individuals are directed to pursue other avenues of redress before they approach the Office of the Ombudsman. It would be a welcome development if the Minister for Justice and Equality put in place a procedure to deal with day-to-day issues but, as the Ombudsman's reports make clear, her office deals with issues that the arms of the State have failed to address.

The legislation on naturalisation has been a long time coming and while I have been critical of policies pursued by the previous Administration in respect of direct provision, these policies are still in place and they need to be addressed immediately. We are discussing an agency which does not yet exist. The Refugee and Integration Agency and the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service do exist and a mechanism of redress needs to be provided for those who have complaints about how they have been treated by these bodies. I see the Ombudsman as playing that role because no other mechanism is available. I do not believe the two mechanisms would clash in any way. The proposals of the Minister, Deputy Shatter, are a positive development but my understanding of the role of the Ombudsman is that she would get involved where an individual cannot resolve a complaint through the existing mechanisms. I strongly support the Ombudsman and I am interested in hearing her opinion of the Minister's advice. Do the officials seconded to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform agree with this advice or do they believe the relevant powers should be given to the Ombudsman, as she stated in 2008? I would argue strongly for the inclusion of these agencies in the Bill.