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What Is The Ombudsman?

The Ombudsman investigates complaints against Government Departments and Offices, Local Authorities, the Health Service Executive and An Post. The Office of the Ombudsman was set up in 1984 and has dealt with over 62,000 complaints since its inception. Complaints can be made about entitlement to public services such as health and social services, taxation, housing and education. The following are typical examples of what people may complain about:

• entitlement to old age and retirement pensions administered by the Department of Social and Family Affairs;
• disputes about income tax credits granted by the Revenue Commissioners;
• entitlement to higher education grants administered by the Department of Education and Science;
• entitlement to livestock grants administered by the Department of Agriculture and Food;
• entitlement to local authority housing;
• disputes about the medical card scheme administered by the Health Service Executive.

In accordance with criteria developed by the British and Irish Ombudsman Association (BIOA) the term 'Ombudsman' should be used by a complaint handling body only if four key criteria are met. Those criteria are independence of the Ombudsman from those whom he/she has power to investigate; effectiveness; fairness and public accountability.