Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

No. 2, motion re the appointment of the Information Commissioner, will be taken with No. 1 for the purpose of the debate.

Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I move:

That Seanad Éireann recommends Ms. Emily O'Reilly for appointment by the President to be the Ombudsman.

Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Emily O'Reilly was appointed to the offices of the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner in June 2003 for a term of six years. She is eligible for reappointment for a further six years, and the Government has decided to nominate her again for both positions. I am delighted that she is willing to serve a second term and to lead her office, where she enjoys public respect and confidence, in the challenges that lie ahead. I have a high personal regard for her and for her work.

The process of appointment to both positions is similar. Each appointment is made by the President on the recommendation of both Houses, hence the resolutions before the House.

I will put the proposed appointments in context. The first Ombudsman was Mr. Michael Mills, former political editor of The Irish Press, who served from January 1984 to October 1994. He established and developed the Ombudsman's central role of examining individual complaints against public bodies. During his term, and thanks largely to his efforts, the office achieved widespread respect and acceptance within the public administration. There were some political tensions and challenges, centred on the resourcing of the office, but they were successfully overcome and resolved.

The second Ombudsman, Mr. Kevin Murphy, former Secretary General for public service management and development in the Department of Finance, who served from November 1994 to May 2003, was also the first Information Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act 1997. In the latter role, he contributed to a fundamental movement towards openness and transparency in administration while continuing to develop the services of the Ombudsman. As a Senator and member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service, I paid tribute to him at his last appearance before that committee.

The current Ombudsman has also seen her role enlarged. Since 2007, she holds the Office of Commissioner for Environmental Information, providing an independent appeals system to cater for applicants whose requests for environmental information have not been dealt with to their satisfaction. Furthermore, in her second term of office she will be required to oversee a substantial extension of her remit.

The Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008 provides for the extension of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction to the administrative actions of vocational education committees, higher education institutions, and a range of other bodies whose administrative actions have not previously been subject to investigation. The Bill also provides the Ombudsman with additional powers and updates various provisions in the Ombudsman Act 1980 in light of the passage of time.

The Bill represents the most significant extension of the Ombudsman's remit in almost 25 years. At present, the Ombudsman is empowered to investigate complaints about the administrative actions of Departments and Government offices, the Health Service Executive, including the public voluntary hospitals, local authorities and An Post. The Ombudsman also has certain functions under the Disability Act 2005.

Since the Freedom of Information Act 1997 came into force, the Ombudsman has also held the office of Information Commissioner. As Information Commissioner, Ms O'Reilly and her distinguished predecessor have played a central role in establishing the freedom of information regime in Ireland. In this role, they have been a very important, independent force in helping to bring about a fundamental change in the relationship between the administration and the citizen, whereby most of the business of Departments is open to scrutiny under the Act, and rightly so. Her office has won the respect of citizens and of public servants alike, and she has been a strong and relentless advocate in articulating the importance of openness and transparency in Government.

The Ombudsman and her office have produced a series of guidelines for the public service, which serve as templates to improve the quality of specific aspects of customer service. These include The Ombudsman's Principles of Good Administration; The Ombudsman's Standards of Best Practice for Public Servants; The Ombudsman's Guide to Internal Complaints Systems; and Redress - Getting it Wrong and Putting it Right. These are based on lessons learned from individual complaints over the years and represent what the Ombudsman often refers to as the added value that her office brings to bear arising from that process.

It would be disingenuous of me were I not to acknowledge that the amendment of the freedom of information legislation in 2003 continues to cause some disagreement and controversy. I am glad to say that the ten year limitation on the release of Government memoranda and associated documents was not further extended when my party returned to office for a third time. Information requests can be time-consuming to process and some charge can be appropriate. The Ombudsman and Information Commissioner operates under legislation passed by the Oireachtas and there may be legitimate differences of opinion, based on different responsibilities and perspectives, with regard to how the best balance is to be struck.

As someone who was keen on such legislation being introduced and who once worked as an adviser for former the Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, one of whose mottos was "Letting in the light", something which is also being done in recent days in a tragic and appalling context, I would stress that the important point is that the current situation is a large advance on where we were and provides a progressive and relatively liberal framework. The secretive, more authoritarian culture of the past often served us very badly and, thankfully, today we have a far more open society. I would be concerned, however, at the diminished willingness of many public officials to commit to paper as fully, frankly and comprehensively as they might have done in the past, and at the dangers that this too may create.

Prior to her appointment as Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly was well known to us all as one of the most able and incisive journalists of her generation, and I remember a number of encounters with her in that capacity, both in a Northern Ireland and European context. Her work was widely read, highly respected, and heeded. The same can be said for her decisions in the past six years as Ombudsman and Information Commissioner. I am delighted to recommend her reappointment to the House.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I would also like to be associated with the reappointment of Emily O'Reilly to the role of Ombudsman. She has done an excellent job in the past six years, and I wish her another six years of equally being a good servant of the State, but I ask the Minister of State to ensure that there is adequate funding for her new role in the future. She will take on a much greater burden in the next six years covering all the institutions about which the Minister of State spoke. As someone who has used the Office of the Ombudsman to get some satisfaction for my constituents in the past, I understand there are certain limitations to her role because of the legislation under which she must operate. The changes made in 2003 to the Freedom of Information Act strike the balance the Minister of State spoke about between accountability and transparency in Government - what the Government does not want the people to know and what the people believe they should know. There will always be an argument about that because we would always prefer, certainly those of us in Opposition, to have as much openness, accountability and transparency as possible but there is a role for Government to try to limit that amount of information, especially controversial information.

The role of the Ombudsman is a positive one which solves genuine problems people experience in their dealings with State organisations and we should do everything we can to bolster that role. I have never seen any political involvement on the part of the Ombudsman. It has always been a balanced and open office to deal with, and long may that continue.

John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I would like also to be associated with the good wishes expressed. I am pleased that Emily O'Reilly has been proposed for reappointment as Ombudsman. I am conscious that the original institution as ombudsman was set up in Sweden 200 years ago this year but we need the institution now more than ever. It is an institution that protects the most exposed and unprotected in the community. The sad events of recent days and the publication of the Ryan report show how important it is to be vigilant and to ensure proper practices and standards are maintained at all times. An independent Ombudsman assists in that.

The Office of the Ombudsman has existed in this country since 1984. Tens of thousands of people have been helped by the dedicated staff of the office, who are committed to raising standards of service for customers of Government Departments, the health service, local authorities and other public bodies. We owe Ms Emily O'Reilly and her predecessors a vote of thanks for their work in this area. We wish her every success in her appointment.

Feargal Quinn (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I support the appointment of Ms O'Reilly as Ombudsman. I thank the Minister for widening the remit of the office and the scope of her duties, of which I had not been aware. I knew Ms Emily O'Reilly before her appointment as Ombudsman, and I knew the two previous holders of the office. There is little doubt that the Office of the Ombudsman has been helped by the people appointed to that position since 1984.

There are several examples of important reports and recommendations by Ms O'Reilly to improve the transparency and fairness of our society. She has taken on board everything we have allocated to her office, including the Disability Act 2005. There has been much soul searching about the abuses perpetrated on victims in State institutions. Ms O'Reilly's work as Ombudsman has also highlighted abuses that continue to occur. In a report last December, which I only saw a few days ago, the Ombudsman found that an 88 year old woman received care that fell far below what could reasonably have been expected in a nursing home in Mullingar, County Westmeath. She said the investigation by her office showed the nursing home failed to ensure the patient's most basic needs were catered for, including being adequately fed and hydrated.

She also highlighted the revelations about FÁS, which were taken up by our colleague, Senator Shane Ross, in the Sunday Independent , were due in part to the Freedom of Information Act, for which she has responsibility. However, we still appear to be lagging behind in several areas with regard to freedom of information. Recently, Ms O'Reilly rightly expressed anger at the failure of the Government to subject the Financial Regulator, the Central Bank, the National Treasury Management Agency and the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission to the Freedom of Information Act. At a meeting of an Oireachtas joint committee this morning I suggested to the Minister that the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, should also be included under that Act. I support the Ombudsman's aim to bring these bodies under the remit of the Act.

The re-appointment of Ms O'Reilly will allow her to continue her good work to achieve the goals she has set and for which she has established such a reputation.

Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I wish to be associated with the remarks of my colleagues in welcoming the re-appointment of Ms Emily O'Reilly as Ombudsman. The publication of the Ryan report has made clear the need for a flow of information, transparency and openness. She has done an exceptional job, not only in working with current legislation but also in recommending improvements that might be made. I hope we will actively pursue those in the coming years to improve the current good system under the Freedom of Information Act. As Senator Quinn said, some flaws remain. There is no better person than Ms Emily O'Reilly to continue the good work she has started in that regard.

Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Senators for their support for this motion. Indeed, there is unanimity on the excellent work that has been done by Ms Emily O'Reilly.

Senator Twomey raised the relevant issue of resources. On completion of the First Schedule of the Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill, that is, the list of bodies that will be subject to investigation by the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman's office identified a need for 13 additional staff to be recruited on a phased basis as the workload of the office increased following enactment of the Bill. However, mindful of the current Exchequer situation, the Ombudsman has since indicated a willingness to explore additional options to maintain a satisfactory service level to the office's clients within the current constraints, while attempting to service satisfactorily the additional workload arising from the Bill. This involves both a comprehensive review of work practices and structures to optimise internal resource allocation and a detailed analysis of the options available for increasing the staffing complement within the current funding constraints regarding salary commitments. Another option to address this is the redeployment of surplus staff from elsewhere in the Civil Service. These options are being explored.

I thank Senator Twomey for his honest acknowledgement that there will always be a certain tension between the Executive and the concept of freedom of information. That will be the case under any Government. It is not just a case, as the Senator was perhaps implying, of suppressing information that might in some sense be embarrassing. There can be perfectly good, objective, bona fide reasons that it is not in the public interest to put certain information in the public domain at a particular point in time.

Senator Hanafin excited my historical imagination by mentioning the founding of the office in Sweden in 1809. If I remember correctly that is when the last of the Vasa dynasty died and Bernadotte, the Napoleonic marshal, took over. His dynasty still reigns today. I wonder if the Ombudsman was introduced as part of that transition or whether there was an element of Napoleonic reform in it.

Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Minister need not fear transparency or openness. He could be there for 200 years.

Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Whatever the circumstances, and I intend to look into the matter a little further, it is certainly an institution that has stood the test of time in Sweden and has spread across much of the developed world.

Senator Quinn referred to the several valuable reports produced by the Ombudsman. Undoubtedly, her office constitutes an important safeguard. It is not the only constitutional or other safeguard we have - this House is another safeguard - but it is an important safeguard, particularly where people's rights are concerned. The Senator gave a very good example with the case of the 88 year old woman in a nursing home. With regard to making the Financial Regulator and other State financial institutions subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the Act contains protections for commercially sensitive information. That would apply to nearly all the transactions of those bodies. It appears a great deal more thought will have to go into how and if one can apply freedom of information to those bodies.

Finally, as Senator MacSharry pointed out, the Ombudsman has recommended improvements, many of which have been adopted. These will always be given careful consideration.

Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I move:

That Seanad Éireann recommends Ms. Emily O'Reilly for appointment by the President to be the Information Commissioner.