Ombudsman (Ireland)

The Office of the Ombudsman was set up under the Ombudsman Act 1980,^[2] commenced in 1983.^[3] The first ombudsman, Michael Mills, took office on 3 January 1984.^[4]

The functions of the office were amended by the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012.^[5]

The ombudsman is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of both Houses of the Oireachtas. The ombudsman deals with complaints against providers of public services including Departments of State, local authorities, the HSE, publicly funded third-level education bodies, nursing homes and direct provision accommodation centres.^[6]

The Ombudmsman is ex officio a member of three statutory oversight bodies: the Commission for Public Service Appointments,^[7] the Electoral Commission,^[8] and the Standards in Public Office Commission.^[9]

The Ombudsman holds the office of the Information Commissioner (and Commissioner for Environmental Information) by separate appointment, and since January 2023 is ex officio also the Protected Disclosures Commissioner.^[10][11]

The Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 provided for the statutory protection of the title of Ombudsman. The 2012 Act 2012 approximately 200 additional public bodies under the scrutiny of the Ombudsman.^[12] The Act also designated the Ombudsman as Director (Chief Executive) of the Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments. The Act was the first in a series of public service reform measures by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the other measures being the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013, the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, the Freedom of Information Act 2014, the Registration of Lobbyists Act 2015 and the Public Sector Standards Bill 2015.

In the 2012 Annual Report, the Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly argued strongly for constitutional status to be conferred on the Office of the Ombudsman, with a constitutional guarantee of independence from the Government, similar to that enjoyed by the Comptroller and Auditor General.^[13] This appeal was reiterated by her successor, Peter Tyndall.^[14]