BackFrom 1 May 2013 over 180 additional publicly funded organisations will be subject to independent oversight by the Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly. This means that the Ombudsman will be able to examine complaints from members of the public about the administrative actions of public organisations including Universities, Vocational Education Committees and the Family Support Agency, among many others.
Speaking today, Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said: “Today is a landmark day for accountability in Ireland. Almost 25 years since it was first proposed the remit of the Ombudsman has been extended so as to include almost all publicly funded organisations that deal with the public.”
The Ombudsman already has the power to examine complaints against Government Departments, local authorities and the HSE (including public hospitals). However, the public can now take complaints about the ‘administrative actions’ of a further 180 public organisations to the Ombudsman once they have tried to resolve their complaint with the public organisation concerned and once that ‘action’ occurred on or after 1 May 2013.
In order to provide guidance and assistance to public bodes under her remit the Ombudsman, together with the Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, Padraig Mac Lochlainn TD, today launched two Guides. The Ombudsman Guide to Good Public Administration – ‘Six Rules for Getting it Right’ is designed to help public bodies provide a first-class service to their customers, while ‘Listen, Respond, Learn, Improve’ provides advice on setting up internal complaints systems.
At the launch the Ombudsman highlighted the importance of public bodies having efficient and effective complaints systems in place for their customers. “Good complaints systems not only resolve difficulties but can provide a valuable and free mechanism for the public body to receive feedback from its customers”.
A list of the public bodies that came within the Ombudsman’s remit from today is available at the Ombudsman’s website.
Source: Office of the Ombudsman of Ireland
