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Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2008 (text version)

3.3 Communication and co-ordination with Houses of the Oireachtas members

A key element in the roll-out of the Integrated Strategic Communication Plan for my Office was to enhance communication between the Office and Houses of the Oireachtas members in general. I also wanted to encourage more complaint referrals from Deputies, Senators and their staff on behalf of constituents who have a grievance against government departments and other public bodies which fall under my statutory remit.

The new communications plan adopted by the Office on foot of an independent consultancy report, was preceded in 2006 by a formal survey of all Houses of the Oireachtas members to gauge, inter alia, the views of Deputies and Senators on levels of knowledge of, and satisfaction with, all aspects of the work of my Office. Specific questioning focused on the level of usage, or take-up of the service through referrals, the approachability and accessibility of the Office and the overall effectiveness of the Office in resolving complaints, as well as how best both institutions can work more closely together in raising the standards of public service.

The survey disclosed that Houses of the Oireachtas members were anxious to receive more information as to how best to make a complaint, easy contact points for doing so, together with details of the role of the Office and how we handle complaints. It was widely suggested that a briefing /information seminar be provided by the Ombudsman for all Houses of the Oireachtas members.

I decided to take up the suggestion of the Houses of the Oireachtas members by organising a briefing / information seminar which I held in Leinster House on 22nd October 2008.

Coinciding with the seminar, An Ceann Comhairle, Mr. John O’Donoghue TD kindly agreed to launch my publication titled, “A Digest of complaints referred to the Ombudsman by public representatives”. Essentially this is a catalogue of case studies detailing both findings and outcomes with a common feature, insofar as each complaint was referred to me by a public representative.

The Digest summarises the beneficial and meaningful outcomes achieved in the case of twelve particular complaints. The cases are a representative sample and relate to everyday  issues for the people/constituents involved. They include grievances about a medical card, an old age pension, a nursing home subvention, a disabled persons grant, as well as a farm grant, among others.

While Oireachtas members refer a significant number of both people and complaints to my Office, research undertaken on behalf of my Office shows that over a fifth of Dáil respondents to a 2006 survey and over a quarter of  Seanad respondents did not have any interaction with the Office. The level of referrals was higher for Dáil respondents.

The seminar and digest launch were part of an initiative by my Office to extend our outreach programme to target and help the most exposed and unprotected people in society. In order to improve communication channels between Houses of the Oireachtas members and my Office, I took the opportunity of the seminar to announce that I intended in early 2009 to set up dedicated contact points in my Office for Houses of the Oireachtas members and their support staff, as well as a dedicated complaints form, designed for use by Deputies and Senators. This was to make it easier for the members to make complaints to me. I stressed that these new arrangements were voluntary but if availed of, can help us all to do our business more efficiently.

There has always been a special relationship between the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Ombudsman as a statutory institution.  Not only does the Ombudsman report annually to the Houses of the Oireachtas on cases examined but the Office also highlights for the Houses of the Oireachtas, deficiencies and inequities in existing legislation which have impacted unfairly on complainants. In this way, my Office can help the Houses of the Oireachtas to "quality proof" the legislation it passes.

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