• You are here:
• Home /
• Publications /
• Presentations

Presentations

Presentation by the Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly to the Public Transport Accessibility Committee, Department of Transport, 10 May, 2006

COMPLAINTS AND REDRESS

Introduction

The Disability Act, 2005, which became law on 8 July, 2005, imposes significant obligations on Government Departments and on Public Bodies to work proactively towards the improvement of the quality of life of people with disabilities. Part 3 of the Act, which deals with accessibility of buildings and services, and Sectoral Plans by six designated Government Departments, sets out the levels of service that people with disabilities can expect to receive from public bodies covered by the legislation. The Act also gives people a statutory right to complain to a body if they feel that the body is not complying with the provisions of Part 3 and, where a person is dissatisfied with the outcome of such a complaint to the body, they can then make a complaint to my Office

Where such a complaint is made to my Office, it will be investigated under the provisions of the Ombudsman Act, 1980 - which has been appropriately amended by the Disability Act. Essentially, the Ombudsman Act now applies to ".. a determination of an Inquiry Officer within a public body or a decision of a Complaints Officer in relation to a Sectoral Plan ... "

I understand that, unlike the Department of Transport itself, most, if not all, of the bodies represented here today have not previously come within the remit of the Ombudsman and therefore have not been the subject of investigations by my Office. I also understand that many may well be, for the first time, devising internal complaints procedures as a consequence of the Disability Act. My Office has published two documents which I believe will be of assistance to you in this work - "The Ombudsman's Guide to Internal Complaints Systems", and "The Ombudsman's Guide to the provision of redress" both of which are available on my Office's website (www.ombudsman.gov). I would like to take this opportunity to give you an outline of what I believe consititutes good practice in the areas of complaints and redress.

I also hope that those of you from organisations representing people with disabilities will get a clearer understanding of the work of my Office and how it can help the individuals you represent.

Complaints and Redress

Where a person exercises their statutory right to complain, it is very important that the body concerned has in place an effective internal complaints system to deal with the matter. Generally, such a system should enable the complaint to be reviewed by a person other than someone who was initially involved in the case, and provide a readily available and easily accessible means whereby disputes, misunderstandings and mistakes can be resolved.

When setting up an effective internal complaints system, it is not sufficient to merely "go through the motions" in order to be seen to be doing what is required under the Act. There are real and tangible benefits to be gained from having an effective internal complaints system and, for maximum benefit, certain essential conditions must be met, including:

Commitment by management - internal complaints systems will not be effective if they do not have the commitment of the organisation at management level. A commitment to the principle that dealing effectively with complaints from the public is an integral part of the service provided should underpin the body's mission statement. Management should foster a positive and receptive attitude to complaints. The ability to acknowledge that a mistake was made should be seen as a strength rather than a weakness on the part of the body concerned.

Commitment by staff within the organisation is vital. All staff, and particularly those in the front line, should be encouraged to take a positive attitude to complaints. Staff are more likely to do so if they know that there is top level commitment to complaints handling and if they are fully involved in the setting up of the system.

Provision of resources - the complaints system will soon lose the confidence of the public if it cannot deliver on what it promises. It must be provided with the resources, both material and human, to enable it to achieve results. Management must ensure that accommodation, equipment and finances are appropriate and that the staff are highly motivated.

Training - in addition to being highly motivated, the staff involved should have specialised training in customer care, interpersonal and communications skills. Initial training in basic skills and techniques should be complemented by in-service training to enable staff to keep up to date with new advances in the area of complaint handling.

Clear objectives - the success of any complaints system usually depends on those involved in its operation being clear as to what it is intended to achieve. It would be useful at the initial stages of setting up a system to define what a complaint is. The term 'complaint' may cover a wide range of items not all of which may be appropriate to the complaints handling system. In this context a working definition might be that a complaint exists where:- 'a decision or action is taken which relates to the provision of a service or the performance of a function which, it is claimed, is not in accordance with the disability legislation and which adversely affects the person concerned'

When setting up and operating the internal complaints system structure, much will depend on the size of the body, its staffing structure and the nature of the services being provided. But whatever the structure, there are essential features which must be part of a good internal complaints sytem. In this regard the system must be:-

Accessible - people must know that it exists and there should be simple instructions, which are generally available, about how to make a complaint.

Simple - the various stages in the process must be kept to a minimum and it is essential that internal disputes about the handling of complaints do not develop.

Fair and independent - the internal complaints function should be headed by a senior person in the organisation and this person should not have any direct working involvement in the areas where the decisions which give rise to complaints are made. This person should have the authority to alter the original decision if the circumstances suggest that this is warranted, and to award redress in appropriate cases.

Confidential and Impartial - all complaints should be treated in confidence. The public should be assured that making a complaint will not adversely affect their future dealings and contacts with the body concerned.

Effective - the complaints system should have the authority to address all the issues giving rise to the complaint. Where the examination finds that the fault lies with the body, the system must have the power to provide appropriate redress. A complainant who remains dissatisfied should be advised of his or her right to refer the case to the Ombudsman where appropriate.

Flexible - while rules are necessary to ensure consistency, too much rigidity should be avoided and there should be a degree of discretion given to those involved in the system to adjust to the changing needs and demands of complainants and to adapt to new situations.

One other vitally important feature of a good internal complaints system is publicity. A body may put in place a "state of the art" system but unless their clients or customers know that it exists it will never be effective. Bodies should actively promote their complaints systems, for example, by publishing details on their websites or by making leaflets available at points of service, and they should also encourage their staff to make clients and customers aware of it.

 Redress

Where a person has been wronged the body concerned should provide appropriate redress and, as mentioned earlier, a good internal complaints system should include a facility for the award of such redress. The general rule of thumb, when considering the type of redress that is appropriate, should be to put the person into the position that he or she should have been in if the public body had acted properly.

If it turns out that the body had not acted in compliance with its obligations, it should always give a detailed explanation and/or apology. Explanations and apologies should include the following:

- the reasons why the public body got it wrong;

- an apology for any hurt, inconvenience or hardship caused;

- an acceptance of responsibility for the situation which has occurred;

- an undertaking to make rectify the situation for the future;

Sometimes, this is all the person wants - they simply want it acknowledged by the body that it acted incorrectly and that they are sorry.

In other instances, depending on the matter complained of and the consequences to the person, the body might have to consider other remedies or the payment of compensation.

So when should compensation be paid?

In some cases an action (including an inaction) of a body wrongly taken may affect a person in a manner which can easily be quantified and payment of compensation may be appropriate. Compensation may be considered for, for example, financial loss, expenses for the loss of service, or costs incurred.

The Ombudsman's Role

The existence of a good internal complaints system does not mean that the outcome of all complaints will always be mutually acceptable to both parties. In situations where the original decision of the body is upheld, the person has the right to refer the complaint to my Office.

My job as Ombudsman is to investigate complaints from members of the public who feel that they have been unfairly treated by public bodies. My Office is impartial and completely independent of the Government.

Under the Ombudsman Act, 1980, I have the power to demand any information, document or file from a body complained against and I can require any official of that body to attend before me to give information about a complaint.

Any individual, company, organisation or association can make a complaint to my Office.

Before contacting my Office, the person must first try to solve the problem with the public body concerned. In the case of complaints about Part 3 of the Disability Act, the Act itself sets out how a person should go about this - i.e. by the inclusion of the provisions in relation to internal complaints procedures.

When a complaint is received in my Office I will have my staff carry out a preliminary examination of the complaint. The purpose of a preliminary examination is two-fold:

1.  to establish in a quick and informal way whether a formal (and obviously more detailed) investigation is called for,

and

2.  to enable complaints to be resolved with the minimum of formality.

In the majority of cases complaints are resolved in an informal way, for example, by discussing the problems with the public body or by examining the relevant files. In more complex cases a detailed investigation may be required. Investigations are always conducted in private but it is a matter for the Ombudsman to decide what procedures are appropriate in the conduct of an investigation.

If I find that a complaint is wholly or partially justified, I will report this to the body concerned and I may recommend that it should review its action, change the decision or pay compensation. I have no power to force a body to accept my recommendation, but if it does not I may find it necessary to make a report on the matter to the Houses of the Oireachtas.

I am confident that my new role in relation to complaints about Part 3 of the Disability Act (and the addition of several hundred new bodies to the list that already come within my remit) will dovetail easily with the existing work practices of my Office. From our point of view, this new role is simply an extension of what we have been doing very well for over 20 years. As I see it, the question of how well our relationships with the new bodies develop will be largely down to whether those bodies fully embrace their new responsibilities under the Disability Act and, in particular, whether they adopt a positive attitude in the implementation of their internal complaints systems. I appreciate that it is not easy to have to design and implement a system, the purpose of which is to attract negative attention in the form of complaints. However, there are benefits to be gained from a having an effective internal complaints system - one of these is that there should be fewer complaints coming through to my Office.

If a public body would like to discuss any aspect of their new internal complaints system with my office, they are very welcome to do so. The officials in my Office who are dealing with this area are Michael Brophy and Brendan O'Neill

For those of you from the groups representing people with disabilities, I would like to add that there are various ways in which someone may contact my office to make a complaint:

- they can write or call to my Office at 18 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2,

- they can telephone my Office on LoCall 1890 22 30 30, or

- they can fill in the on-line complaints form on our website (www.ombudsman.ie), or

- they can e-mail us at ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.ie

Also staff from my Office attend the Citizens Information Centres in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Coolock on one day per month and I have recently started a new service, called the Ombudsman Link Service, in these, and three other centres, whereby the staff there can give assistance to individuals wishing to make a complaint to my Office. The details of all these services are available on our website.

There is no charge for my Office to deal with complaints.

 Thank you

Back to contents