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Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2002

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Introduction

This is my ninth Annual Report. It is also my last as I will retire from office on 1 June 2003 after over eight years in office. I was very honoured to have been appointed Ombudsman and I hope that I have carried out my duties properly, fairly, openly and impartially in accordance with the high standards I have set for bodies within jurisdiction. The independence which the Office enjoys and its special reporting relationship with the two Houses of the Oireachtas are the two crucial elements which ensure that the Office can provide adequate and appropriate redress for citizens when they are adversely affected by the improper, unfair or unsound activities of public bodies. An effective Ombudsman’s Office supports the Houses of the Oireachtas in holding the Executive accountable for fair or sound administration. Equally the Office can call on the Houses of the Oireachtas for support when public bodies do not accept formal recommendations.

The nature of the job requires the office holder to have a fairly high public profile enabling the general public to relate to a person rather than to a depersonalised office. But supporting the Ombudsman is a staff of competent, committed and hardworking individuals whose contribution I wish to acknowledge. In particular I want to thank Pat Whelan, the Director General, who has responsibility for the day to day management of the Office and who also provides me with valuable advice on particularly complex or sensitive complaints. Pat, and the four Senior Investigators, Maureen Behan, Michael Brophy, Tom Morgan and David Waddell have helped to put in place an Office which is internationally acknowledged as being in the vanguard of Ombudsman Offices worldwide.

I have in the past remarked upon the pace of change in Irish society and throughout the public service as it strives to keep pace with more complex and demanding challenges in serving the public. Objective evidence suggests that the Irish public service is rising to these challenges.

In March 2002 PA Consulting Group presented a comprehensive evaluation of the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) to the Department of the Taoiseach following a survey of 23 Departments and Offices. The survey included interviews with Ministers and a wide range of officials and the distribution of 30,000 questionnaires to civil servants. The aim of the exercise was to assess the impact of the SMI process and in particular its impact on customer service. The report covers a wide range of areas but the overall conclusion was that the Irish civil service in 2002 was more effective than it was a decade ago. There is now a greater appreciation and acceptance among civil servants of the need to be accountable, to take a strategic approach to human resource management, to achieve value for money and to improve the quality of regulation so as to reduce the administrative burden on the public.

A further independent survey, commissioned by the Department of the Taoiseach, was carried out by Lansdowne Market Research in November 2002. The survey sought to measure the levels of satisfaction among the general public and the business community in relation to their dealings with civil servants. The results were very positive. For instance, 84% of the general public surveyed were either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the cross-the-counter service they received. The same percentage said they were proud of the Irish civil service. The business community gave average ratings of four out of five to civil servants in terms of their courtesy, helpfulness, quality of service and levels of knowledge.

However, the continuing need to review and improve standards remains, particularly in the area of Quality Customer Service (QCS). Significant progress has been made in this area under the auspices of SMI and through initiatives undertaken by my Office. One such initiative which I undertook was the publication in 1997 of The Ombudsman’s Guide to Standards of Best Practice for Public Servants. I devote Chapter 2 to an update of the Guide. The Guide was part of my efforts over the years to ensure that my Office makes a positive contribution towards raising public administration standards in Ireland. This contribution was recognised in the PA Consulting Group report which highlighted my Office as being "an important catalyst driving QCS and supporting initiatives at central level". I saw a need to publish this update in the light of experience gained from dealing with cases since 1997 as well as more recent developments in the public service in relation to ethical standards and the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997. The Guide has also been produced in leaflet form, in English and Irish, and I will be arranging to have it distributed widely to public servants.

While I commented in some detail on the issue of redress in my 2001 Annual Report, I attach such importance to it that I return to it in Chapter 3. I give details of some cases of interest which were resolved by means of various forms of redress. I also make some comments on the principle of proportionality which was a feature of a number of those cases.

Chapter 4 outlines other cases of interest which I completed during the year across a range of public bodies and in Chapter 5 I look back at some of the highlights of the year for my Office. This includes a detailed overview of the business planning process which is now firmly embedded in the Office with consequent improvements in the service we provide to our clients. Chapter 6 provides a statistical breakdown of cases dealt with during the year.

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