Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 Mar 1999

Vol. 502 No. 3

Written Answers. - Ombudsman's Office.

Deirdre Clune

Question:

273 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Finance if there has been an increase in the number of queries or complaints received by the Ombudsman's office in the past three years; if he has increased the number of staff in the office to meet this demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7756/99]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

The following table contains details of the numbers of complaints received and finalised by the Office of the Ombudsman in the last three years for which figures have been published.

The office of the Ombudsman also deals with a larger number of general inquiries from members of the public. However, the systems for recording, such inquiries which are now in place have only recently been installed. According to the data collected to date on this subject, the average number of inquiries dealt with by the office of the Ombudsman would be in the region of approximately 500 per month.

Year	Complaints Received that were within Ombudsman's Remit	Complaints Received that were outside Ombudsman's Remit	Total	Complaints within remit that were Finalised	Complaints that were Finalised as a Percentage of Complaints Received
1996	2,536	645	3,181	2,466	97.24%
1997	3,126	803	3,929	2,981	95.36%
1998	2,876	903	3,779	3,052	106.12%
Total	8,538	2,351	10,889	8,499	99.54%

The overall level of staffing within the Ombudsman's office has risen from 36 in 1996 to its current level of 59. This includes staff dealing with the Freedom of Information Act and the Public Offices Commission. However, the number of staff dealing with complaints from the general public has risen from 35 in 1996 to 42 at present, including five staff who are assigned to the Ombudsman function when not required for Referendum Commission work.

Whilst the office has seen an increase of over 13 per cent in complaints within the Ombudsman's remit over the last three years, it is clear from the table that the proportion of complaints finalised is very high – nearly 100 per cent over the three years. This does not suggest any difficulty with staffing levels in the office.