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Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2008 (text version)

2.2 Notices issued to public bodies under Section 7 of the Ombudsman Act, 1980 - demanding information

Under Section 7 (1) (a) of the Ombudsman Act 1980, I am empowered to request information from a person or body, which in my opinion is relevant to an examination or investigation.  Consequently, during the course of the year, my Office may issue a Section 7 notice seeking the required information, in a case where there has been a delay in responding to such a request. A breakdown of the number of notices issued was first published in the Ombudsman Annual Report 1998. The annual pattern of such notices issued since then is as follows:

There was a significant drop in Section 7 notices for 2008, with just seven being issued by my Office. In fact, this is the second lowest issue figure in the last ten years, in what I hope is a welcome trend, which will continue. In particular, I am pleased to record that no notices were issued to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in 2008 – 10 notices were issued to the Department in 2007.

The following is a listing of the seven Section 7 notices issued in 2008 and the timelines involved for each notice.

Two Section 7 notices were issued to Tullamore Town Council in 2008

Tullamore Town Council (i)

• Report requested on 28 April  - No acknowledgement received.
• First reminder issued on 12 May - No acknowledgement received.
• Final reminder issued on 28 May - No acknowledgement received.
• Section 7 notice issued on 13 June.
• Report received on 30 June.

Tullamore Town Council (ii)

• Report requested on 10 October  - No acknowledgement received.
• First reminder issued on 10 November  - No acknowledgement received.
• Final reminder issued on 28 November - No acknowledgement received.
• Section 7 notice issued on 15 December.
• Report received on 17 December.

One Section 7 notice was issued to Athy Town Council in 2008

• Report requested on 27 May - Request acknowledged on 28 May.
• First reminder issued on 25 June – No acknowledgement received.
• Final reminder issued on 10 July – Reminder acknowledged on 11 July.
• Extension requested by council on 1 August.
• Extension granted until 15 August - Report not received.
• Section 7 notice issued on 15 August.
• Report received on 26 August.

One Section 7 notice was issued to Cork County Council in 2008

• Report requested on 28 June 2007.  Request acknowledged 29 June 2007
• First reminder issued on 30 July 2007.  Phone call received from council.
• Final reminder issued on 23 August 2007 – Acknowledged on 24 August 2007.
• Section 7 notice issued on 15 January 2008.
• Report received on 24 January 2008.

One Section 7 notice was issued to Galway County Council in 2008

• Report requested on 27 March – No acknowledgement received.
• First reminder issued on 28 April – No acknowledgement received.
• Final reminder issued on 12 May – No acknowledgement received.
• Section 7 notice issued on 28 May.
• Report received on 5 June.

One Section 7 notice was issued to Meath County Council in 2008

• Report requested on 27 March - No acknowledgement received.
• First reminder issued on 28 April - No acknowledgement received.
• Final reminder issued on 12 May – No acknowledgement received.
• Section 7 notice issued on 28 May.
• Report received on 12 June.

One Section 7 notice was issued to the HSE in 2008

• Report requested on 12 Dec. 2007 – Acknowledgement received on 13 Dec.
• First reminder issued on 4 Mar 2008 – Acknowledgement received on 5 Mar.
• Final reminder issued on 10 April.
• Section 7 notice issued on 12 August.
• Report received on 18 August.

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