Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin broadly welcomes the amendment. As a member of the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, I had the good fortune to be present for meetings with the Ombudsman. It is important to have clarification on the role of the joint committee. My party welcomes the establishment of the committee. I had hoped the amendment would go a little further by providing that the Minister "shall" rather than "may" designate a committee. Notwithstanding this, I appreciate the general tone of the amendment and my party will work with the Minister on this issue. The role of the joint committee will be vital in giving credibility to the Houses of the Oireachtas in its dealings with matters of this nature. I will raise a number of other related issues later.