Ombudsman critical of Oireachtas for "poor governance"

[adamirer]

Actually, this is a key point

The last Financial Regulator was excoriated for not doing his job adequately, for allowing himself to be captured by the system he was supposed to monitor, by not rooting out maladministration in the banking system and thus failing to serve the public interest. My Office has done - in its area of responsibility - precisely what the Financial Regulator was accused of not doing in his. And the result is as I have outlined.

She points out, quite rightly, that the Financial regulator got slated fro not holding the institutions it monitored to account, and when she does the same, she is ignored by those self same critics... in the Lost to Sea case out of "a sense of loyalty to a colleague, the former Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, who devised the scheme along with his officials, following representations from constituents and others and against the initial advice of his Department officials"

[FakeViking]

"strictly enforced" is a bit misleading. TD's are free to vote according to their conscience if they so wish. If you don't like the whip system you can always vote for an independant.The fact that people vote for TD's they know will tow the party line is not a fault in the system.

To quote one of O'Reilly's recommendations:

a modest proposal for parliamentary reform would be for the main political parties to agree to relax the very rigid party discipline now there and to accept that TDs should have some freedom to follow the dictates of their own conscience

[ManUnited]

To quote one of O'Reilly's recommendations:

Again it ignores the fact that TD's do have that freedom.It's up to the electorate to vote for people who are going to exercise it.Having the major political parties agree ...is not parliamentary reform.

[Rich OC]

I was at the conference this morning. She was bloody brilliant. She made her points calmly and backed up her views by referencing best practice in other jurisdictions. There were three TDs there for the session immediately after her (Pat Rabbitte, Sean Ardagh and Michael Noonan) and although they weren't there for her speech, Richard Crowley (who was chairing, and yes he looks that good in real life) put what she said to each of them and they really were quite sheepish and waffled around the answer, or in Sean Ardaghs case wouldn't answer at all.

Given all of the above I think what she did today was quite premeditated, and she is seeking to assert the power and responsibilities of her office. RTE were there (separate to Crowley) and she gave an interview immediately following her speech to them. The politicians better bring their "A" game because she is not going to be trifled with. She does not appear to be willing to suffer the way her Office had been treated re the fishing compensation matter at all.

On her way down from the podium I told her I hope she had a helmet ready. I don't want to say exactly what her reply was as I don't think it was for public consumption, but what I will say is that if the Government ultimately do call her bluff they better be ready for all of the consequences.

Good conference in general, well done to the IPA.

[adamirer]

I was at the IPA gig on the OECD report in 2008.. one of Cowen's first gigs... how quickly that fell off the agenda. O'Reilly will do well to have her points picked up upon.

[Rich OC]

I was at the IPA gig on the OECD report in 2008.. one of Cowen's first gigs... how quickly that fell off the agenda. O'Reilly will do well to have her points picked up upon.

I think that it is the points or her.

[DCon]

I was at the IPA gig on the OECD report in 2008.. one of Cowen's first gigs... how quickly that fell off the agenda. O'Reilly will do well to have her points picked up upon.

RTE are reporting it:

Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has said members of the Irish parliament have been sidelined and can no longer hold the Government to account because TDs and Senators are firmly controlled by their party whips.

Ms O'Reilly said she believes TDs are forced to exercise a form of 'mental reservation' in decision making because they generally have to vote a predetermined basis.

RTÉ News: Ombudsman blasts political institutions

[FrankSpeaks]

The answer is yes, however it has rarely and possibly never exercised this option, the whips are too strong. There should be a lot more free votes in the Dail, IMHO it would make use a better country and the government would be far more accountable.

[I'mVeryGladYouAskedMeThat]

"For all practical purposes, and I very much regret having to say this so bluntly, parliament in Ireland has been sidelined and is no longer in a position to hold the executive to account."

Emily, as a former political correspondent: this is hardly news.

Ms O’Reilly said last month the Dáil and Seanad had the task of deciding who is right and wrong in her dispute with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. But following a heat Dáil debate on the matter last month, the Government voted against referring the report to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Emily, you are not elected. Those who are, are charged with handling taxpayer's cash.

She said this illustrated “how deficits in our parliamentary and government arrangements can adversely affect” the work of her office.

There are plenty of other deficits the Government has to deal with too.


In a wide-ranging speech, the Ombudsman said poor governance in a number of our key private and public institutions lies at the heart of our economic downturn.

Maybe we should reduce the number of quangoes, wha' ?

[adamirer]

Wow, what a post above. Basically, its not news, therefore not a big deal, its not your job to point it out because you're not elected and the implication being that the Ombudsman could be a quango to look at eh?... clearly you either don't care, don't care a long as FF are in power, or genuinely feel uless you are elected, you're no right to point out serious flaws in our democracy... either way, spectacular 4th post, hope the other 3 were less partisan.