Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise two issues, the first of which is one I have raised previously. It is a difficult one because it involves the appalling practices of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman’s office. A man lost his life in tragic circumstances related to his work and a €670,000 sum from his pension, which he had earned over his lifetime, has not been passed on to the family. I will not mention the details because that would not be appropriate, but the family have been trying to pursue that money and get what is rightfully theirs. The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman erred in law and denied them, so they took a case to the High Court, which backed the family and agreed that the decision was wrong. The High Court does not have the power, however, to implement its own decision, so it handed back the case to the ombudsman. The family have been left for years since then with no final decision. A further preliminary decision was made backing the original error in law and since then, they have been left waiting for years with no response. When it does come, if the ombudsman upholds its original decision, the family will then be faced with taking a further High Court case to once again make clear that the organisation has erred in law.

I know of other cases like this. The office is just not functioning well. There is a huge turnover of staff, with no continuity or decisions made. I again appeal to the Analog company, a good employer in Limerick, to do the right thing in this case. This was a senior member of its staff who dedicated years of service to the organisation. There is something morally and fundamentally wrong with this issue. I ask that we have a debate on the really poor performance of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman's office because it has clearly failed in this case and it is not the only one.

On the second issue, I have just come from a meeting relating to the occupied territories Bill organised by Senator Black. She will be able to speak to it much more eloquently than I can, but the message from the meeting was clear. There is no legal impediment to passing the occupied territories Bill. What is lacking is the political will to do so. Especially in light of The Ditch’s revelation yesterday in regard to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, we really need to see Fine Gael stand up on this issue. It is not good enough to sit with our arms folded and say we are waiting for further legal advice. The advice is very clear and a former Attorney General who sits in this House has told us the same. There is no impediment. Belgium has taken this action already. This Government should not end before the occupied territories Bill is passed. I appeal to all Senators. All of us should be on the same side here. Let us take a stand for what is right. Let us pass the occupied territories Bill and we can all be proud of taking that action.