Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Transparency should apply. I do not mean that in any other way. When we preach about something we must abide by it ourselves. I can take any fair criticism of me by the Senator here. In equal measure, if he wants to preach about transparency and scrutiny then he must subject himself and his organisation to the same rules. He cannot ask of others what he refuses to give himself and I make that point en passant. If we are going to move on to a different phase with complete accountability in public life in this country - and this legislation is part of that architecture - then everybody must march in step. Nobody can preach without abiding by it themselves.

As Senator Barrett will know, the idea behind the legislation is to greatly extend the remit of the Ombudsman to over 140 additional bodies. The Ombudsman will find it challenging but she and her staff are up to it and are capable of taking on the new role. It is a great extension of the oversight role of the Ombudsman. I do not think this is the end of it either because we are creating two new clauses in the legislation - first, automaticity for new bodies that are created which is innovative and, second, the oversight committee will now have the power to make recommendations for exclusions now or on any further extensions in the future.