Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 40:

In page 46, lines 15 and 16, to delete “the complainant may, at his or her discretion, make a fresh complaint in respect of the matter the subject of the first-mentioned complaint” and substitute “the Registrar shall refer the matter to the Board for investigation”.

What I am seeking to do in this amendment is that where somebody makes a complaint and a decision is taken for mediation or informal processes and if there is no outcome from the mediation or informal process, rather than the person having to resubmit the complaint, the registrar would automatically refer the matter to the board for investigation rather than it being dropped. In this entire process, the onus is put on individuals to come forward and make complaints. That can be quite off-putting and onerous as it is. Many people just will not do that. Even if these processes are relatively easy to navigate, if people are not used to doing that they can find it very off-putting and stressful. If people have made a complaint and the complaint is deemed to have been sufficiently serious that it at least warranted mediation or other processes, if that does not work out the complaint should not simply drop with the onus put on the individual to have to resubmit it. At that point, even though the complaint might still be serious, many people will drop out of the process and we will lose serious complaints. That is the intention behind the amendment.

While it still means the system puts the onus on individuals to make complaints, it just means that when they do that it is less likely that their complaint will be dropped or lost if the mediation processes do not work out. It takes their complaint that bit more seriously, makes it a little more user friendly in that sense and places a little less of a burden on individuals who come forward to make complaints. It also means that if the complaint is initially put into a mediation process or some other informal process, the individual is not put at a disadvantage just because that does not work out. Those types of processes should never put somebody at a disadvantage. There should always be an additional means of resolving things rather than something that might mean the complaint effectively runs into the ground.