Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 284: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the measures that he is taking to ensure that all public bodies under her remit are informing dissatisfied complainants that they have a right of recourse to the Ombudsman; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30422/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The three statutory bodies operating under the aegis of the Department are the Pensions Board, the Citizens Information Board and the Social Welfare Tribunal. In addition the Pensions Ombudsman comes under the remit of the Department. The Pensions Board The Board advises customers that they can take their complaint to the relevant office if it is not resolved satisfactorily by the Board. In all publications and on-line the Board provides contact details and references for the Pensions Ombudsman, the Financial Services Ombudsman, The Office of the Ombudsman, the Financial Regulator and any other support agency where relevant. The Government has endorsed 12 Quality Customer Service (QCS) principles for the public service. It is the Pensions Board objective, as part of its "Strategy 2006-2010" to deliver the highest quality service to all their customers and has therefore included in its Strategy the delivery of a Customer Action Plan based on the 12 QCS principles. The Board's Customer Action Plan is published to provide a specific focus on customer service development. A key initiative of this plan is the publication of a Customer Charter which is a public statement detailing the Board's standards and services. The Customer Charter is displayed in the Board's offices and is available on its website. The Pensions Ombudsman Section 140 (1) of the Pensions Act 1990 provides that the only course of appeal open to a complainant against a determination of the Pensions Ombudsman (which is a legal decision binding on all parties) is through an appeal through the High Court with 21 days of the date of that determination. Furthermore, any category of complaint or dispute which can be investigated by the Pensions Ombudsman, is exempted from the Ombudsman Act 1980 by virtue of Section 58 (1) of the Pensions (Amendment) Act 2002. The Citizens Information Board The Citizens Information Board does not come under the remit of the Ombudsman other than under the terms of the Disability Act 2005. The Citizens Information Board's website www.citizensinformationboard.ie outlines the procedure for making such complaints as necessary, and makes reference to the role of the Ombudsman in relation to complaints that fail to be resolved by the Citizens Information Board. The Social Welfare Tribunal The Ombudsman has no remit to examine decisions of the Social Welfare Tribunal. A decision of the Tribunal on an application for an adjudication is final and conclusive, but an appeal may be made to the High Court on a question of law.