asked the Minister for External Affairs what action was taken by the Government on the invitation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to consider the possibility of setting up an institution such as the Scandinavian Ombudsman for the speedy and inexpensive investigation of individual complaints of alleged violation of rights by the administration; and in particular what was the nature and extent of the investigation which was conducted before the Committee of Ministers was informed that existing institutions in Ireland were satisfactory; by whom such information was given to the Committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Appointment of Ombudsman.
22.
On 27th January, 1970 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe sent a reply to the Consultative Assembly in regard to the Recommendation No. 548 relating to this subject in which it was stated that a number of countries including Ireland considered existing institutions satisfactory and that no need was felt to set up the additional machinery of the ombudsman.
The Government's position in this matter was stated in some detail on behalf of the Taoiseach in reply to a question in the House on 15th May, 1968.
Accepting that the Government are not prepared to acknowledge the need for an ombudsman, does the Minister not agree that there is a body of opinion that the system of an ombudsman would be justified, and does the Minister think it correct that a body like the Council of Europe, which represents all the parliamentarians in Europe, should be informed that there is no feeling in Ireland for the need for an ombudsman?
The Taoiseach said, on 23rd October last year when speaking on the debate on the situation in the Six Counties, that he would not be averse from examining the possibility of this matter, but it is pertinent to say that we here have a very democratic system in which there is a total availability of local and national representatives where the people are concerned and the rights are remedied——
Not in Dublin or Bray.
——through questions here in the House and in my view there is no strong demand for this sort of institution that has arisen and is working in countries that have not got our strong democratic type of system in which representatives are readily available to the public.
The truth is that the Council of Europe were misinformed when they were told that there was no demand here for this.
I prefer to regard ourselves as fulfilling this role.
Is the Minister aware that the Reverend Paisley also claims that he is totally available to his constituents and does this mean that everything in the garden is rosy just because he is available?
We do not have the same type of society down here in which there are Reverend Ian Paisleys.
Is the Minister aware that the Taoiseach when advocating the abolition of PR stated that one of the reasons he advocated it was that a number of Deputies all over the country were pretending to do things for the public which they were not doing at all?
That is a different matter.