Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly is to be given the power to investigate hundreds of State agencies set up over the last 20 years under legislation currently being planned by the Department of Finance, it has emerged.
The ombudsman has for years been seeking an extension of her powers, but met with little support from the previous minister for finance, Charlie McCreevy, although his successor, Brian Cowen, has slowly come around to agreeing to the need for change.
Fás, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Health and Safety Authority, the Courts Service, the Labour Relations Commission, and a host of other influential bodies cannot be investigated currently by the ombudsman.
In a written Dáil reply this week, Mr Cowen said the Department of Finance was "currently preparing" an Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2007 "to widen the ombudsman's remit and update the existing ombudsman legislation".
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has already opposed bringing the Labour Court, the Labour Relations Commission and the Employment Appeals Tribunal under the ombudsman's remit. However, it is understood the department is agreeable to giving Ms O'Reilly the power to examine the handling of cases brought to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board.
Final decisions will be made by the Department of Finance.
The Department of Justice has yet to reply to the Department of Finance and it is still unclear if it will heed Ms O'Reilly's demand to be able to investigate the Court Service's administration of justice. Equally, the department's view on whether the ombudsman should be able to investigate the work of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service is not yet known. A reply would be issued in due course, a Department of Justice spokesman said yesterday.
In her annual report, Ms O'Reilly said she was one of the few ombudsmen in Europe "whose jurisdiction is restricted in this way", and curbs on her ability to investigate the handling of alien and immigration applications were "unwarranted".
The Office of the Ombudsman, she said, was receiving "a small but growing number of complaints" from applicants, who had complained they had not been given reasons, or given only partial reasons, to justify a visa application refusal.
The Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill, 2007 is also expected to ensure that any new regulatory offices cannot be titled as ombudsmen, responding to Ms O'Reilly's fear that the number created to date is confusing the public.
