Tom Shehan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Why are we giving more power to the Ombudsman when her recommendations can be thrown out with the bath water, so to speak, and not taken on board when they come before these Houses? In 1984, John Boland, who was then Minister for the Public Service, said that he would not provide legislation for the Ombudsman's recommendations to be legally binding or legally enforceable because he found it unthinkable that a public body or any Department would not accept the Ombudsman's recommendations.