Mr. Ger Deering:

I was very pleased with and proud of the staff last year in that while we had a significant increase in the number of complaints, we also had a significant increase in the number that we dealt with and closed. We did get a small increase in staff. I do not think anyone is ever going to say they have enough or plenty of staff, but I must say we are doing well. We closed almost as many complaints as we received. This was really good. In fact, very often public bodies, including an Ombudsman office, are nervous of doing outreach because they are already trying to deal with what they are trying to deal with. My biggest fear, however, would be that people who do not need our services are those who might come to us, while we would miss out on those who really do need our services. The good news is that, through the dedication of Ms O'Donoghue and her team, we are keeping up with demand. We will also keep this aspect under review.