Senator Ivana Bacik referred to the Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill which we will be discussing presently. I agree that it was a terrific debate last week, when we heard phrases such as "pane of glass" and so on. Unfortunately, the Bill that will be before us later will mean that 110 agencies will be exempt, whereas the number was 60 before we started the debate. We all praised the Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, and her staff and highlighted the need for greater accountability. We said we needed to pass the Bill because Sir Humphrey was not a natural democrat. He has been very active during the week and managed to have another 50 agencies exempted. That is a shame because there is a view at large that the elected Government has been taken over by the permanent government of civil servants, of which this is an illustration.

Well said.

We had measures to abolish the Seanad and get rid of the stresses on accountability and checks and balances, but how, in one week, did an extra 50 agencies manage to exempt themselves to avoid the attention of the Ombudsman? I want to know who has been going up the back stairs of Government Buildings. This is lobbying at its worst.

Bravo.