Organisation information
FOI Publication Scheme
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- 1. Introduction
- 2. What we do
- 3. Establishment
- 4. Other Statutory Obligations
- 5. Role and responsibilities
- 6. What outcomes does the Ombudsman seek?
- 7. Records held by the Office
- 8. Corporate Plans and Strategies
- 9. Annual Report
- 10. Organisational Structure and Governance Arrangements
- 11. Pay Grading
- 12. Location of Office and Contact Details
- 13. Media Enquiries
- 14. Memorandums of Understanding
- 15. Customer Charter
- 16. Code of Practice
- 17. The service we provide
- 18. How our service can be accessed
- 19. How much it costs to access our service
- 20. How we make decisions on policies
- 21. Financial Information
- 22. C&AG Appropriation Account for Office of the Ombudsman
- 23. Revised Estimates
- 24. Payments over €20,000
- 25. Procurement Information
- 26. FOI Disclosure Log
The following Publication Scheme has been prepared under Section 8 of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2014. The Scheme came into effect on 14 April 2016. It is designed to facilitate the provision of information to the greatest extent possible, except for information exempted under the FOI Act. The Scheme is web based and contains links to reference material on our website, which will be updated as provided for under the Act. A hard copy will be made available for viewing by appointment.
This information was last updated February 2023.
The primary functions of the Ombudsman are set out in the Office's webpage on What we do.
The Office of the Ombudsman (the Office) was established under the Ombudsman Act, 1980. The Ombudsman Act has been amended a number of times, principally by the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act, 1984 and by the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act, 2012.
The Office is a public body for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, 2014 (the FOI Act). Accordingly, its records may, subject to certain exceptions, be accessed by an FOI request.
The Office is subject to the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The Office's Privacy Notice can be accessed.
The Office is also subject to the provisions of the European Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information and various AIE Regulations enacted in Ireland as a consequence.
The role and responsibilities of the Office are set out in the Office's webpage on What we do.
View an indicative list of bodies under remit of the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman also examines complaints about failures by public bodies to provide accessible buildings, services and information, as required under Part 3 of the Disability Act, 2005. For these types of complaints, the term 'public body' includes Government Departments, Local Authorities, the HSE and semi-state bodies, as well as most other state organisations.
- To obtain appropriate redress if a complaint is upheld
- To ensure learning and prevent recurrence
- To drive improvement in public administration
The range of records held in the Office fall within the following broad categories (some overlap may occur)
- Personnel Records
- Accounts Records
- Assets Register
- Civil/Public Service Guidelines and Circulars
- Published Media Coverage, including press cuttings
- Speeches and Presentations by the Ombudsman/staff of the Office
- Contacts with public service providers including the names of liaison officers for bodies covered by the Act
- Notes and minutes of management meetings and associated documentation
- Records relating to publication of reports e.g. annual reports, special investigation reports, including records relating to translation, tendering, designing and printing
- Management of the website of the Ombudsman
- Management of cases
- Statistics on cases
- FOI requests for access to records held by the Office
- Data Protection Act requests for access to records held by the Office
- General enquiries and correspondence
- Contacts with the Department of Finance
- Contacts with Oireachtas Committees
- Correspondence/Memo of Understanding with equivalent offices
- Records of internal policy
- Discussions and correspondence with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regarding the operation of the Act
- Internal procedures records
- Liaison arrangements with public service providers
- Case records, including records of communications with public service providers and complainants
- Submissions made by public service providers and complainants
- Records of legal advice sought and received
- Decisions of the Ombudsman
- Other records relating to Ombudsman casework records, including case closure details, investigations, analysis and comment by officials of the Office
Guidance for Public Service Providers
Internal complaints systems
The provision of redress
Making a meaningful apology
Standards of best practice
Guide to good public administration
Press releases on findings and recommendations
Ombudsman’s other functions and duties under the Act
- Annual reports
- Investigation/Own Initiative reports
- Commentary Reports
The Ombudsman Procedures for conducting an investigation are available here.
The Office’s Policies and Strategies are available here.
The Strategic Business Plan of the Office can be found here.
The Office’s Annual Reports are available on the website here.
Ombudsman: Ger Deering
Director General: Elaine Cassidy
Management Team: David Nutley (Head of Communications and Quality), Liam Duffy (Head of Corporate Services), Jennifer Hanrahan, Sarah Cooney and Seán Garvey (Senior Investigators)
There are 20 Investigators (Assistant Principal Officers), 1 Administrative Officer, 7 Higher Executive Officers, 10 Executive Officers, and 10 Clerical Officers working as caseworkers in the Office.
The corporate services function of the Office - human resources, finance, administration and information technology - are also provided by the Office and the relevant governance arrangements may be found here.
The Ombudsman, Ger Deering, was appointed to the role on 7 February 2022. Details of the meetings attended by the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman also serves as the Information Commissioner and the Commissioner for Environmental Information. He is also an ex officio member of the Standards in Public Office Commission, the Commission for Public Service Appointments, the Referendum Commission and the Constituency Commission. His salary is equivalent to that of a Secretary General III in the Civil Service.
Similarly, the Director General acts as Director General for the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information, the secretariats to the Referendum Commission, the Commission for Public Service Appointments and the Standards in Public Office Commission. Her salary is that of an Assistant Secretary in the Civil Service.
The Office is located at 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773.
Directions to the Office can be found here.
Opening hours: between 9.15 and 5.00 Monday to Friday.
Telephone: +353-1-639 5600
Contact David Nutley, Communications, Office of the Ombudsman
Phone: 01 639 5610 or 086 412 0240
Email: david.nutley@ombudsman.ie
The Office has a memo of understanding with the Ombudsman for Children (OCO). This memo of understanding provides the basis for enhanced cooperation to address and deal with instances where both a child and an adult have been adversely affected. Read the Memorandum of Understanding with the Ombudsman for Children.
Additionally, there is a memo of understanding between the Office and the Medical Council. This memo allows for the exchange of information and complaints between both offices. The agreement will also establish procedures to assist members of the public in accessing the services of both organisations. Read the Memorandum of Understanding with Medical Council.
The Office also has a memo of understanding with the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). This gives a framework for cooperation and information sharing about those elements of health and social care services which fall within our respective remits, and to establish effective procedures for signposting members of the public to each other’s services. Read the Memorandum of Understanding with HIQA.
The Office also has a memo of understanding with the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR). Its primary aim is to ensure that relevant information which becomes available to one Office and which may assist the other Office in the performance of its functions, is shared between the two Offices. Read the Memorandum of Understanding with the Office of the Planning Regulator.
The Office Customer Charter can be viewed here.
The staff of the Office are civil servants in the Civil Service of the State and are therefore bound by the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour.
The Office acts as an independent complaints body for those dissatisfied with the response/decision of certain public service providers. The Ombudsman may examine any action taken by or on behalf of certain public service providers in the performance of their administrative functions if that action has resulted in an adverse effect.
In addition, the action must or may have been:
- taken without proper authority
- taken on irrelevant grounds
- the result of negligence or carelessness
- based on erroneous or incomplete information
- improperly discriminatory
- based on an undesirable administrative practice
- a failure to comply with section 4A which outlines the duty of public service providers to give reasonable assistance and guidance to persons in any dealings with the public service provider or
- otherwise contrary to fair or sound administration
The Ombudsman is legally excluded from investigating some complaints even if the service provider comes within remit. These exclusions are set out in Section 5 of the Ombudsman Act (as amended) available here. Some service providers fall within remit only in respect of a limited range of their administrative functions as set out in Part II of the First Schedule of the Ombudsman Act (as amended) available here.
The Office's information leaflet What the Ombudsman Does explains how to access our service.
To improve access to people living outside Dublin, staff from the Office visit Citizens Information Centre’s (CICs) in Cork, Limerick and Galway each month to take complaints from members of the public. Details of the venues, times and dates of visits can be found on the homepage of our website.
The Ombudsman provides a free service.
This Office is a complaints body and therefore does not make public policy. However, the Ombudsman does have discussions with and provides submissions to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
Vote 19 (Office of the Ombudsman) funds the activities of an organisation comprising the Office of the Ombudsman, the Commission for Public Service Appointments and the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner (Programme A); the Standards in Public Office Commission, including the Regulation of Lobbying function (Programme B); and, the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information (Programme C).
These offices carry out separate and distinct statutory functions: nonetheless they function as a single amalgamated agency under one Vote and one Accounting Officer and corporate management board which manages the organisation while simultaneously protecting and preserving the statutory independence and functions of each of the constituent parts. Each office has its own complement of staff but the finance, human resources, accommodation and information technology functions are shared between all offices.
At the end of each financial year, each department is required to prepare an account known as the Appropriation Account. The statutory requirement is that the Appropriation Account provides details of the outturn for the year against the amount provided by Dail Eireann. View the 2022 Appropriation Account.
Revised Estimates are a detailed version of Budget Day Estimates and include information on spending within individual programmes along with the overall financial allocation for our department. Revised Estimates also include key high level output metrics, context and impact indicators. These provide information on our expenditure and the impact the expenditure is having. View the Revised Estimates for the Office of the Ombudsman:
There is a commitment in the Public Service Reform Plan that all purchase orders for €20k or over shall be published online. The department publishes this information on a quarterly basis.
Quarterly Period Covered: 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024
| Details | Number | Value (€) | Percentage (%) of total number of payments made | |
| Total payments made in Quarter | 183 | 418,678.46 | 100% | |
| Payments made within 15 days | 175 | 332,059.76 | 95.6% | |
| Payments made within 16 days to 30 days | 5 | 76,686.40 | 2.7% | |
| Payments made in excess of 30 days that were subject to LPI and compensation costs | 0 | 0 | 0.7% | |
| Payments made in excess of 30 days that were not subject to LPI and compensation costs | 3 | 9,932.30 | 1.6% | |
| Amount of late payment interest (LPI) paid in Quarter | 0 | 0 | N/A | |
| Amount of compensation costs paid in Quarter | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Quarterly Period Covered: 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024
| Details | Number | Value (€) | Percentage (%) of total number of payments made | |
| Total payments made in Quarter | 139 | 319,414.55 | 100% | |
| Payments made within 15 days | 120 | 167,332.85 | 86.3% | |
| Payments made within 16 days to 30 days | 14 | 103,085.78 | 10.1% | |
| Payments made in excess of 30 days that were subject to LPI and compensation costs | 1 | 25,389.50 | 0.7% | |
| Payments made in excess of 30 days that were not subject to LPI and compensation costs | 4 | 23,606.42 | 2.9% | |
| Amount of late payment interest (LPI) paid in Quarter | 1 | 2,741.22 | N/A | |
| Amount of compensation costs paid in Quarter | 1 | 80 | N/A |
Quarterly Period Covered: 1st October 2023 to 31st December 2023
| Details | Number | Value (€) | Percentage (%) of total number of payments made | |
| Total payments made in Quarter | 233 | 923,526.51 | 100% | |
| Payments made within 15 days | 214 | 892,351.25 | 91.8% | |
| Payments made within 16 days to 30 days | 18 | 13,652.39 | 7.7% | |
| Payments made in excess of 30 days that were subject to LPI and compensation costs | 1 | 17,522.87 | 0.4% | |
| Payments made in excess of 30 days that were not subject to LPI and compensation costs | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Amount of late payment interest (LPI) paid in Quarter | N/A | 13.34 | N/A | |
| Amount of compensation costs paid in Quarter | N/A | 56 | N/A |
The Office of the Ombudsman adheres to national guidelines and a range of European Union directives in relation to the procurement of products and services. The role of the Procurement Officer is to ensure that the office’s procurement policy, procedures and practices comply with EU law and National Guidelines.
The Procurement Officer also provides support and advice as and when it is required by staff and to ensure procurement is compliant with EU law and National Guidelines. The Directives in relation to public procurement can be viewed on the European Union Site Map . Public Procurement Guidelines are published by the Office of Government Procurement .
Within the Office, all contracts with an estimated value above €50,000 (exclusive of VAT) and below the European Union (EU) threshold of €143,000 must be advertised on www.etenders.gov.ie . This is a central facility for all public sector contracting authorities to advertise procurement opportunities and contracts are awarded in accordance with National Public Procurement Guidelines.
All contracts with an estimated value above the EU threshold of €143,000 must be advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Contracts are awarded in accordance with the provisions of the EU Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU. This directive was implemented into Irish law by European Union Regulations.
The Corporate Procurement Plan 2021-2024 is the Office of the Ombudsman’s strategy to form the basis for strong financial management, risk management, audit and corporate governance systems for procurement for the Office. It outlines our procurement goals and objectives for the next three years.
This Fraud Prevention and anti-Corruption Policy Statement provides a framework for promoting the Office’s policies and measures to prevent and detect fraud and corruption and sets guidelines for staff on their responsibilities in relation to fraud.
Rules concerning the receipt of gifts and permitted hospitality by Civil Servants are set out in the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour, which is supported by the Office’s Policy on gifts, hospitality and entertainment.
A list of all non-personal FOI requests received by the Office since 1st January 2015 can be viewed here:
Links to Guidance Documents for Suppliers
Benefit of eTenders for Suppliers Benefit of eTenders for Suppliers