Ombudsman's Powers Extended

The Ombudsman (Amendment) Act, 2012, increases the range of public bodies which come within the remit of the Ombudsman for investigation of complaints against them.

The Act provides for the inclusion of all public bodies unless they are specifically excluded, as listed in the Second Schedule or excluded in part, as set out in the First Schedule, Part II.

The additional public bodies came under the Ombudsman's remit on 1^st May 2013.

The main new provisions which strengthen the powers of the Ombudsman are as follows:

• Bodies under the Ombudsman's remit will, in the context of the performance of certain administrative actions, be legally obliged to give reasonable assistance and guidance to members of the public and deal with them properly, fairly, impartially and in a timely manner (Section 7)
• Arising from an investigation, the Ombudsman may make general recommendations to such public bodies under her remit as she considers appropriate in order to mitigate adverse effect identified during an investigation. (Section 9)
• If a person fails to comply with a request from the Ombudsman to provide any specified information, document or thing she may apply to the Circuit Court for an order of compliance (Section 10)
• Arising from an investigation, the Ombudsman may refer any question of law to the High Court for determination (Section 12)

The Ombudsman's power to examine the administrative actions of those additional bodies are confined to the examination of complaints about actions which occurred on or after the date on which those bodies fell within her remit, i.e. 1^st May 2013.

For further details regarding the functions and powers of the Ombudsman, or to make a complaint, please see the website - http://www.ombudsman.gov.ie

The Ombudsman's Office may be contacted as follows -

The full text of the Act may be viewed here - Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012.