Introduction
The Office of the Ombudsman has a review procedure for situations where a complainant is unhappy with the Office’s examination of their complaint.
A review will be carried outonly if one of the five criteria listed below can be satisfied.
The procedure involves reviewing how the Office carried out the examination of a complaint. It is not a review of the original actions or decision of the public service provider.
This review procedure is not used for complaints against members of staff. A separate procedure exists for such complaints.
Requesting a Review
Where a complainant is unhappy with the Ombudsman’s decision on his/her complaint, he/she may avail of one review only within one month of receiving our decision letter.
A Review Request must be completed and returned to the Review Manager who must be satisfied that:
- new relevant evidence/information has become available which might have had a bearing on the original decision in the case
- there was a failure on the part of the Office to examine a relevant and substantial issue
- there was a failure on the part of the Office to obtain relevant and necessary information from the body concerned
- the complaint has been misunderstood or misinterpreted by this Office
- the decision of the Office was incorrect or unreasonable in the context of the complaint or the particular circumstances of the case.
General principles
- There will be one review only of a complaint decision.
- The Review Manager or a Senior Investigator, who has had no previous involvement in the case and who is in a more senior position, will review the original decision.
- All members of the organisation will act professionally and impartially with complainants and colleagues when conducting a review.
Review Manager
We have appointed a Review Manager whose role is to ensure that reviews are carried out under our review procedure. The Review Manager will write to the complainant about the acceptance of the request for a review.
Accepting a Review Request
The Review Manager will consider whether a request for a review should be accepted.
Usually a request for review must be made within one month of the decision being issued to the complainant. However, in exceptional circumstances the Review Manager may allow a late request.
A review will be carried outonly if one of the five criteria listed above can be satisfied.
In some cases, the Review Manager may consider that further clarification should be provided to the complainant rather than reviewing the decision. In such cases the Review Manager will ask the caseworker to provide the complainant with the necessary clarification. If the complainant is still unhappy then the case will be returned to the Review Manager.
Where the request for review concerns a case which has been considered by the Ombudsman, for example complaints made by public representatives or where the case was referred to the Ombudsman for approval, the request for review will not be accepted. This is because the most senior person in the Office has already made a decision on the case. In such cases, the Review Manager will write to the complainant advising them that their review will not proceed.
In all cases, when the review has been assigned, the complainant will be provided with the contact details of the person conducting it.
Examination ofthe Review Request
In the examination of the request we will consider the following:
- The original complaint
- All reports/information provided by the public body
- The caseworker’s decision/closing letter
- The complainant’s Review Request
Review Decisions
We aim to reach a decision on reviews within 90 days. If we cannot complete a review within this timescale then we will inform the complainant.
If the review finds some failing in our examination of the complaint, or the complainant has presented new relevant evidence/information, then the person considering the review will inform the complainant that the Office will carry out a new examination of their complaint. We will open a new case.
If the review does not find any failings with the Office’s examination of the complaint the person considering the review will inform the complainant accordingly and explain why. The case is then closed with no further action.
Reviews of a decision not to examine a complaint
There are some reviews which concern decisions not to examine a complaint in the first instance, for example complaints or service providers that are outside our remit or the complaint is not made within 12 months.
If the review finds the decision of the Office was incorrect then the person considering the review will inform the complainant that the Office will carry out an examination of their complaint. We will open a new case.
In such cases the complainant will be allowed a further review if his/her substantive complaint is not upheld.
Persistent Correspondence
Where a complainant continues to correspond on a complaint that has already been decided through the review procedure, the correspondence will be forwarded to the Review Manager.
In most cases the Review Manager will issue a standard letter saying that a review has been carried out and that the Office will not be taking any further action on the matter.
In some instances the Review Manager may consider that further clarification should be provided to the complainant and will arrange for this to be provided to the complainant.
Where a complainant continues to correspond, the Review Manager will prepare a note on the review/complaint for the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman will consider whether the complainant should be informed that his/her most recent and future correspondence concerning the review of the decision will be placed on the file without further action or further action is deemed necessary.
Please send your request for Review to:
The Review Manager
Office of the Ombudsman
18 Lower Leeson Street
Dublin 2.
Or, email your request for Review to review@ombudsman.ie
Review Request Form for Download