MERGERS:MERGING THE various ombudsman offices and State commissions into a single entity would save taxpayers almost €83 million and cut staff at the Government's Finance Group by 660, according to the report.
The Finance Group is made up of a number of bodies, including the Department of Finance, President’s Establishment, Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Revenue Commissioners, the Ombudsman and various commissions and offices.
The report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes recommends creating a single Ombudsman Commission to replace a range of ombudsman and regulators’ offices.
These are the Office of the Ombudsman, Information Commissioner, the Children’s Ombudsman, the Data Protection Commissioner, and the Commission for Public Service Appointments.
The group also argues that there is a case for merging the Local Government Audit Service with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the Government’s spending watchdog. It recommends extending the CAG’s remit to audit any body that receives significant public money.
It states that measures such as this would save €82.8 million in a full year and cut staffing levels by 660.
Given what was known about the capacity of society, administrators and institutions to do serious harm to children, the Ombudsman for Children’s powers “must be protected and the independence of the Office guaranteed now and into the future,” Emily Logan said.
“My job – and that of my office – is to speak up for children and to investigate wrongdoing. It is just inconceivable that the distinct and independent nature of my office would be tampered with, diminishing the ability of my office, with its powers and specialised skills, to speak up for the abused child, the trafficked child, the disabled child, the child in care.”
The children’s charity Barnardos also expressed “deep concern” at the proposal.