The Office of the Ombudsman in Ireland was set up under the terms of the Ombudsman Act 1980, as amended by the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012. The current Ombudsman is Peter Tyndall.
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Function
The Ombudsman is appointed by the President of Ireland upon the nomination of both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Ombudsman deals with complaints against Departments of State, local authorities, health boards and An Post. The Ombudsman's remit was greatly extended by The Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 which brought approximately 200 additional public bodies under the scrutiny of the Ombudsman.
The Ombudmsman is ex-officio a member of three important statutory oversight bodies: the Commission for Public Service Appointments, the Referendum Commission and the Standards in Public Office Commission.
Lack of constitutional status
In the 2012 Annual Report, the then 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. This appeal was reiterated by her successor, Peter Tyndall.
Other ombudsmen
There are other ombudsmen established in Ireland. The first Pensions Ombudsman, Paul Kenny, was appointed in 2003. Emily Logan became Ireland’s first Ombudsman for Children in March 2004. The Financial Services Ombudsman incorporated the older offices of the Insurance Ombudsman and Ombudsman for Credit Institutions in 2005. Also established in 2005 was the Office of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces, the first holder being Paulyn Marrinan Quinn, formerly the founding Insurance Ombudsman. An Act of 2005 created a three-person tribunal, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, to investigate complaints about the country's police force. All these offices are statutory and their holders are public servants.
A (non-statutory) Press Ombudsman began work in January 2008 and legislation has been published to establish a Legal Services Ombudsman. The Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill of 2008 provided for the statutory protection of the title of Ombudsman. This was passed as the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012, which increased the number of State agencies under the Ombudsman's remit, and also designated the Ombudsman as Director (Chief Executive) of the Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments.