Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Ombudsman's remit extends to An Bord Pleanála and Eirgrid; when this changed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8520/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 extends the Ombudsman's remit to all public bodies which conform to the definition of public bodies as set out in Part 1 of the First Schedule to the Act, except for those which are specifically exempt in whole or in part.  The administrative actions of some 180 additional public bodies were brought within the Ombudsman's remit under the Act representing the most substantial extension in both the powers of the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman's remit in over three decades and significantly enhancing the accountability of public bodies to citizens.  

The approach taken achieved automatic application of the Ombudsman's Act to public bodies in place of the previous approach which required bodies to be scheduled individually by way of Government Order for inclusion on a case-by-case basis.  In this case, the bodies the subject of the Deputy's question, Eirgrid and An Bord Pleanala, had never been scheduled and as such were never under the Ombudsman's remit.