The Ombudsman tonight branded the Oireachtas a fundamentally weak, rubber-stamping institution.
Emily O’Reilly made the stinging criticism after Fianna Fáil last week ensured an Oireachtas Committee reject her findings on the controversial Lost at Sea fishermen’s compensation scheme.
Ms O’Reilly accused the Government of using the party whip system to act as the judge in its own trial.
“The chain of independence envisaged by the Oireachtas when it enacted the Ombudsman Act 1980 has been broken in this case,” she said.
“That can only be to the detriment of members of the public who have received unfair treatment at the hands of public bodies and who rely on the Office of the Ombudsman to provide a remedy for their complaints in a fair, effective and independent manner.”
The Lost at Sea scheme was introduced in 2001 to help fishermen who lost fishing boats between 1980 and 1989.
Ms O’Reilly fought for the Byrne family from Donegal after they complained to her in 2004. Fisherman Francis Byrne died along with his 16-year-old son Jimmy and three other crew when the family boat, the Skifjord, sank off Donegal in 1981.
The Byrnes were denied compensation, and their appeal centred on claims that the scheme was not widely enough advertised and they only became aware of it after the closing date for applications.
The Ombudsman had ordered €245,570 compensation be paid but the Oireachtas has refused to support her.
Her report, published in December 2009 and given to the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, was voted down by nine Government aligned members of the committee. Seven Opposition members voted in favour of it.
It is only the second time in the 26-year history of the Ombudsman’s office a ruling has been ignored by the Government.
“I am very disappointed for the Byrne family. I have exhausted all the avenues open to me in my efforts to get their complaint satisfactorily resolved,” Ms O’Reilly said.
“I remain convinced as to the merits of the case and that the family deserved to be compensated as a result of the adverse affect they suffered from actions which, in my view, amounted to maladministration.
“Ultimately, the Ombudsman model in Ireland allows the Houses of the Oireachtas to be the final arbiter where a public body rejects an Ombudsman recommendation.”
Ms O’Reilly also questioned remarks made by the committee regarding her report. She noted the committee urged some of her report be disregarded because of “its particular facts”.
The Ombudsman said that may be a reference to the fact that the actions of former Fianna Fáil minister Frank Fahey, who brought in the scheme, were scrutinised and criticised in the report.
In a statement, Ms O’Reilly said the committee complimented the work of her office and added that her “report casts no reflection on the integrity and effectiveness of the Office of the Ombudsman”.
Ms O’Reilly added: “I would hope that, in making this comment, the committee did so in the full knowledge that any reflection cast on this office is ultimately damage done to the very people represented by the Oireachtas; the citizens and residents of the country.”
PA