Ireland | Ombudsman hosts major regional outreach event

As part of its Outreach programme, Ombudsman for Ireland and IOI President, Peter Tyndall, hosted a series of events in Waterford, in the south east of Ireland, on September 14 and 15 last.  The events consisted of:

• a ‘Complaints Clinic’ to take complaints, and provide advice and assistance to the public.  The clinic received 61 complaints.  In 2016 the Ombudsman received a total of 60 complaints from people in Waterford.

• A seminar entitled ‘Learning from Waterford’s complaints’ for local public representatives and senior officials from public service providers. The Ombudsman spoke about how complaints can be used to improve public services.

• An information session on the role of the Ombudsman for 40 staff of Citizens Information Centres in the county.

• Meetings with key local service providers such as University Hospital Waterford, Waterford City and County Council and a local centre for asylum seekers.

• Information sessions for residents in four accommodation centres for asylum seekers (Complaints about asylum seeker accommodation came within the Irish Ombudsman’s jurisdiction in  April 2017).

Further information on the Ombudsman services is available online or by e-mail.

Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Ireland