Vol. 573 No. 3
125 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Defence if his attention has been drawn to the concern expressed by PDFORRA at the long delay in the appointment of an ombudsman for the Defence Forces; if the process has been delayed for budgetary reasons; if finance will be allocated for this purpose in the Estimates for 2004; when it is expected that the appointment will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25268/03]
In July 2001, the Government approved the drafting of an Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Bill, along the lines of a general scheme of a Bill presented to Government. In January 2002, the draft text of the Bill was submitted to Government and was approved for publication and circulated to Deputies. Unfortunately, due to pressing time constraints, the Bill did not proceed prior to the end of the last Dáil session. However, it is my intention that the Bill will be enacted before the end of the year and an appointment made to the new office of ombudsman for the Defence Forces as soon as practical thereafter.
Did the Minister say the Bill was passed in 2002?
The Bill has not yet been passed. I hope it will be passed before the end of this year.
Will provision be made in the 2004 Estimates for the appointment of an ombudsman?
The Deputy need have no fears. Once the Bill is passed and the subsequent appointment is made, arrangements will be put in place for that office to operate efficiently and to provide the type of structure that will add to the complaint procedures which already exist.
Why has it taken so long to get this organised?
The truth is that I am a little disappointed. I moved ahead with the preparation of this legislation but there is huge competition to bring Bills to the House and a great deal of urgent work had to be done. I would prefer to answer the Deputy differently and that the Bill was already enacted with approval secured for the personnel involved to manage that office. However, I hope that by the next Question Time on defence, these issues will have been dealt with.
How much does the Minister envisage it will cost in a full year to establish this office and what will be the staffing requirements? What will the relationship be between military and civilian personnel in the office?
The whole idea of establishing an ombudsman for the Defence Forces was that such an office would be independent of the military and the civilian side of the Department. Needless to say, we want a normal complaints procedure so that not everything that happens will be referred to the ombudsman and I think the Deputy would support that point. I cannot provide an estimate of the cost but the office will not be very large. For the time being, I would hope to manage things in the Defence Forces between the military and civilian sectors and myself, as Minister, in such a way as to reduce grievance procedures. We are succeeding in doing so, although there is always a need to improve interpersonal relationships and the way things are managed, while taking account of people's difficulties. The task force and the report by Dr. Doyle on harassment and bullying have contributed to widening the scope of how we understand people's grievances and, therefore, we will not have to go down this road all the time.
How soon after the enactment of the Bill does the Minister envisage being able to establish the office of ombudsman for the Defence Forces?
About three months.
