Office of the Ombudsman, Ireland
Contact Information

The Office of the Ombudsman is open between 9.15 and 5.30 Monday to Thursday and 9.15 to 5.15 on Friday.

18 Lr. Leeson Street, Dublin 2.

Tel: +353-1-639 5600

Lo-call: 1890 223030

Fax: (01) 639 5674 Email: ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.ie

Email

Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2003

Chapter 4 - Notices Issued under Section 7 of the Ombudsman Act, 1980

Notices Issued under Section 7 of the Ombudsman Act, 1980

When there is a significant delay on the part of a public body in responding to my Office in the course of the examination of a complaint a statutory Section 7 notice is issued seeking the required information. A breakdown of the number of notices issued was first published in my Office's 1998 Annual Report. In that year a total of 45 notices were issued. In 1999 this was reduced to 27 and this was further reduced to 14 in 2000. There was an increase to 19 in 2001 and in 2002 a total of 16 notices issued.

Body No. of Section 7 Notices Issued
Civil Service
Department of Education and Science 3
Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1
Registrar of Friendly Societies 1
Local Authorities
Donegal County Council 1
Galway City Council 1
Galway County Council 1
Laois County Council 1
Mayo County Council 1
Naas Town Council 1
South Dublin County Council 1
Total 12

I am very pleased to note that the number of Section 7 notices issued in 2003 is the lowest recorded since my Office began publishing the figures. However, it is disappointing to see that the Department of Education and Science is at the top of the list for the fourth year in a row and that over half of the notices issued to local authorities.

Back to contents