Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies who contributed to the debate. Deputy O'Dowd has taken a particular interest in the area.

I know that everyone has an interest in ensuring that, as we age, we are protected.

One of the aims of the Civil Service renewal plan, launched by the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Howlin, last October, is to have a unified, professional, open, accountable and responsive Civil Service. This means that its culture, structure and processes change so that it becomes more agile, flexible and responsive. The order before us seeks to extend such responsiveness.

We all want our public services delivered in a way that is responsive to the needs of our citizens and produces the best overall outcome. By approving this order, we are further moving in this direction. We are affording some of our most vulnerable citizens the opportunity to access the services of the Ombudsman. The function of the Ombudsman is to investigate complaints from members of the public who believe they have been unfairly treated by certain public bodies. Public bodies whose actions may be investigated by the Ombudsman included all Departments, the HSE, including public hospitals and health agencies providing services on behalf of the HSE, and local authorities.

The Government, through the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012, introduced the most substantial extension in both the powers of the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman's remit in more than three decades and thereby significantly enhanced the accountability of public bodies to citizens. The 2012 Act strengthened the Ombudsman's powers in several important areas and also provided the legal framework to strengthen the relationship between the Ombudsman and the Oireachtas.

The additional bodies that were added to the Ombudsman's remit under the Act include third level education institutions in receipt of public funding, education and training boards, the National Roads Authority, the fisheries boards and the Courts Service. This major expansion in access of members of the public to the Ombudsman further strengthened the standing of citizens in their dealing with public bodies, ensuring that fair treatment is always provided, as well as improving the quality of decision-making and increasing accountability.

The introduction of this order will mean that for the first time this accountability and assurance will be afforded to residents of private nursing homes who are in receipt of State funding or subvention. The independent redress delivered by the Ombudsman will mean an additional level of support for these residents and the opportunity to access an outside authority.

This is part of the Government's programme of wide-ranging reform aimed at delivering open, accountable and ethical government underpinned by a transparent, efficient and effective public system to help rebuild trust in Government and in the institutions of the State. This extension of the Ombudsman's remit follows on from our commitment in the programme for Government to extend the Ombudsman's remit to include non-public bodies which are significantly funded by the State. In addition, it is in keeping with the scope of the Ombudsman which has always been focussed on the delivery of publicly funded services.

Deputy Pringle spoke about older people, some not so old, who are resident in private or public nursing homes. They will also have access provided that a significant element of public funding is going into it. It is the significant public funding that is important and the access flows from that, which is very important.

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