Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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310. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he proposes to carry out a cost benefit analysis of all the Ombudsman’s offices. [25363/13]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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311. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he proposes to examine the function of the Ombudsman’s offices and the expansion of the Ombudsman system and their value for money in the interest of the citizen of the State. [25364/13]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 310 and 311 together.

The Office of the Ombudsman undertook a major organisational review in 2011 to improve the efficiency of its service and to enable it to deal with the extra bodies that were to come within its remit under the terms of a proposed Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill. The structural and process changes that resulted from that review will now assist the Office in dealing with a doubling of the number of bodies within its remit from 1 May 2013 on foot of the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 without additional staffing resources being required. Given the short lapse of time since the review of 2011, it is not considered necessary at this stage to engage in any cost benefit analysis or other form of major review of the functions of the Office. The performance of the Office in dealing with its new enhanced range of duties will, however, be kept under review in the years ahead.