Introduction

"I was very pleased when last year's Annual Report was debated in both Houses of the Oireachtas. I value the support given by individual members to the work of my Office and, for the first time, I have included in this Report my comments on some of the issues which they raised in those debates."

This Annual Report covers the third full year of my tenure as Ombudsman. It has also been my busiest year to date with a 24% increase in the number of complaints received and 21% increase in the number of cases completed. I have also been occupied with preparations for my additional role as Information Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act, 1997 which is effective from April of this year. As Ombudsman, I am a member of the Public Offices Commission and the Constituency Commission, both of which were very active during the course of the year. I was also involved with a further Ad hoc Commission on Referendum Information, this time in relation to cabinet confidentiality. That I was able to cope with these tasks is a tribute to the great support I get from the Director and staff of my Office.

I was very pleased when last year's Annual Report was debated in both Houses of the Oireachtas. I value the support given by individual members to the work of my Office and, for the first time, I have included in this Report my comments on some of the issues which they raised in those debates.

I am anxious that my Annual Reports should not simply be accounts of the cases and activities which engage my Office in the course of the year. I also want to promote higher standards of public administration. Last year I published my "Guide to Standards of Best Practice for Public Servants" encouraging them to deal properly, fairly and impartially with members of the public. This year I am publishing a guide for public bodies on how to set up their own internal complaints systems. I am
doing this because, before I deal with a complaint, I insist on the complainant giving the public body concerned a chance to put the matter right. But I would like to be satisfied that the bodies concerned have carried out genuine reviews of the original decisions. I have arranged for the guide to be distributed with each copy of my Annual Report. Additional copies of the guide are available from my Office.

The guide, although cast in general terms, sets out the features which are crucial to an effective complaints system. In Chapter 4, I illustrate their importance by reference to cases which I have dealt with in the past year.