Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 59: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will make a statement on the 2009 annual report of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces. [30153/10]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Act 2004 provides that the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces is independent in the performance of her duties and I do not consider it appropriate for me to report on her behalf. However I welcome the Fourth Annual Report, and the work done by the Ombudsman, Ms. Paulyn Marrinan Quinn, since the establishment of this important Office in 2005. I believe that in the period since the establishment of the office, the Ombudsman has built a reputation for impartiality, professionalism and fairness in the manner in which she has dealt with cases submitted to her.

I welcome the fact that the establishment of an Ombudsman for the Defence Forces has had a positive impact on military human resources management. I also welcome the comment of the Ombudsman in her report that "she was pleased to be able to attribute a significant part of the progress in the work of her Office to the leadership in the Irish Defence Forces" and that "it has been enlightening to witness such leadership in action over the critical phase of the "start-up" years of the Office of the ODF."