to have grievances independently examined.

In the recent Throne Speech, Governor Lord Waddington said Government was determined to be responsive to the needs of the people.

"The time has come for a further review of the need to create the post of Ombudsman. A motion to examine the merits of creating such a post will be presented for consideration in this session,'' he said.

Ombudsmen exist in other countries and act as an independent examiner of people's grievances against Government.

In Britain, the Ombudsman has the power to order authorities to pay compensation or retract a decision if it finds in favour of the person complaining.

Premier David Saul said last Friday that the issue had been considered before in Bermuda.

"This has come up because of the feedback we have been getting from the grassroots when people have said they tried to get an answer from a Government department or they had comments to make,'' added Dr. Saul.

"They can call the Premier or their MPs, but we think other countries have found an Ombudsman to be very useful.

"We do not want to force this on the country or on Parliament. We want to see what Parliament feels about the idea.''