Fine Gael wants thorough Lost at Sea investigation

SEANAD REPORT:WHILE WELCOMING the indication that Ombudsman and Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly was to be invited to the Oireachtas committee to present her case in relation to the Lost at Sea report, Paul Bradford (FG) said his party would be insisting that the committee carry out a thorough investigation.

Ms O’Reilly’s attendance would obviously be integral to a full investigation by the committee, which would also require the presence of the appropriate political and official personnel.

Ned O’Sullivan (FF) said he had the height of respect for the ombudsman, but he wondered if she had been right to sensationalise this issue by making the speech that she had to the media.

“She has gone on dangerous ground in creating a possible rift between her role and that of the Oireachtas. We are both trying to do our best for the country.”

Minister of State Seán Connick said that in submitting her report, the ombudsman had requested the Oireachtas to consider it and take appropriate action. The Ombudsman Acts were silent on a “next step” in such cases.

Joe O’Toole (Ind) said it was not right that the Government amendment to the Fine Gael motion calling for the committee to be instructed to thoroughly examine the report was actually attempting to stop the debate. The Government should listen to what was being said and rather than put the issue to a vote, it should let the committee deal with it in a non-partisan way.

The amendment was carried by 29 votes to 2l.

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The Government was helping a coterie of buddies to steal at least €32 billion from their fellow countrymen and Coalition deputies and Senators were in cahoots with this, Phil Prendergast (Lab) said.

One hundred babies had been born in the first 20 hours since Brian Lenihan’s announcement of action to deal with the banking crisis. Each of these infants had a €9,000 debt hanging around their necks. “That’s the start in life that this Fianna Fáil Government has given them.”

Fiona O’Malley (Ind) said the best thing they could do for the children yet to be born was to not cry over spilt milk as such, but to make sure that sound investment in our economy happened.

They could not afford to let the country down by the kind of contributions that had been heard from the Labour Party. The US head-quarters of multinationals operating here were aware of the utterances of politicians who did nothing but put the country down.

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David Norris (Ind) stressed the need for a reasoned debate on how the country could get out of its predicament. He regretted that there was headline in a newspaper yesterday saying that various people deserved to be shot.