Dr. Niall Muldoon:

As can be seen from the 2012 report it has been an issue across the office. It is not widespread but certainly it has happened on occasion and we have been able to negotiate our way around it up to now but we would like to put it beyond doubt. The key role of any ombudsman is to find out how a decision was made and why people came to that decision to generate a certain action within a public body. If legal advice guides them in a certain direction it is important that we have that access to that legal advice. We also point out that anything that comes to our attention through an investigatory remit is confidential and so there is no issue in that regard.

There are no issues in this regard. It is about putting beyond doubt our ability to access. We believe we have this right as it is, but it is important to have it beyond doubt from the point of the public bodies.