Ombudsman Act 1980
Source: Iris Oifigiúl 1980-07-18

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paragraphs: —(1) In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—
“action” includes decision, failure to act and omission and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
“civil servant” has the meaning assigned to it by the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956;
“functions” includes powers and duties and a reference to the performance of a function includes, with respect to powers, a reference to the exercise of a power;
“local authority” means a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941 ;
“the Minister” means the Minister for the Public Service.
(2) Save where the context otherwise requires, references in this Act to any Department of State include references to the Minister of the Government having charge of that Department of State and to officers of that Minister of the Government and, if and so long as any of the functions of that Minister of the Government stand delegated to a Minister of State at a Department of State, include references to that Minister of State at a Department of State.
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paragraphs: —(1) There is hereby established the office of Ombudsman and the holder of the office shall be known as the Ombudsman.
(2) The appointment of a person to be the Ombudsman shall be made by the President upon resolution passed by DÃ¡il Ãireann and by Seanad Ãireann recommending the appointment of the person.
(3) A person appointed to be the Ombudsman—
(a) may at his own request be relieved of office by the President,
(b) may be removed from office by the President but shall not be removed from office except for stated misbehaviour, incapacity or bankruptcy and then only upon resolutions passed by DÃ¡il Ãireann and by Seanad Ãireann calling for his removal,
(c) shall in any case vacate the office on attaining the age of 67 years.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person appointed to be the Ombudsman shall hold office for a term of 6 years and may be re-appointed to the office for a second or subsequent term.
(5) (a) Where a person who holds the office of Ombudsman is nominated either as a candidate for election to either House of the Oireachtas, the European Assembly or a local authority or as a member of Seanad Ãireann or is appointed as a member of the European Assembly or a local authority, he shall thereupon cease to hold the office of Ombudsman.
(b) A person who is for the time being entitled—
(i) under the Standing Orders of either House of the Oireachtas to sit therein,
(ii) under the rules of procedure of the European Assembly to sit therein, or
(iii) under the standing orders of a local authority to sit as a member thereof,
shall, while so entitled, be disqualified for holding the office of Ombudsman.
(6) A person who holds the office of Ombudsman shall not hold any other office or employment in respect of which emoluments are payable or be a member of the Reserve Defence Force.
(7) A person shall be not more than 61 years of age upon first being appointed to the office of Ombudsman.
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paragraphs: —(1) There shall be paid to the holder of the office of Ombudsman the same remuneration and allowances for expenses as are paid to a judge of the High Court.
(2) (a) The Minister shall make and carry out, in accordance with its terms, a scheme or schemes for the granting of pensions, gratuities or other allowances on retirement or death to or in respect of persons who have held the office of Ombudsman.
(b) The Minister may at any time make and carry out, in accordance with its terms, a scheme or schemes amending or revoking a scheme under this section.
(c) A scheme under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and if either such House, within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the scheme is laid before it, passes a resolution annulling the scheme, the scheme shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.
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paragraphs: —(1) The Ombudsman shall be independent in the performance of his functions.
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paragraphs: —(1) The Ombudsman shall not investigate any action taken by or on behalf of a person—
(a) if the action is one in relation to which—
(i) the person affected by the action has initiated in any court civil legal proceedings and the proceedings have not been dismissed for failure to disclose a cause of action or a complaint justicable by that court whether the proceedings have been otherwise concluded or have not been concluded,
(ii) the person affected by the action has a right, conferred by or under statute (within the meaning of section 3 of the Interpretation Act, 1937 ), of appeal, reference or review to or before a court in the State (not being an appeal, reference or review in relation to a decision of a court), or
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paragraphs: —(1) In any case where a complaint is made to the Ombudsman in relation to an action and the Ombudsman decides not to carry out an investigation under this Act into the action or to discontinue such an investigation, he shall send to the person who made the complaint a statement in writing of his reasons for the decision and, if the decision follows the receipt by the Ombudsman of a request under section 5 (3) of this Act, a copy of the request and of the statement in writing of the reasons for the request attached to the request and he shall send to such other (if any) person as he considers appropriate such statement in writing in relation to the matter as he considers appropriate.
(2) In any case where the Ombudsman conducts an investigation under this Act, he shall send a statement in writing of the results of the investigation to—
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paragraphs: —(1) (a) The Ombudsman may, for the purposes of a preliminary examination, or an investigation, by him under this Act, require any person who, in the opinion of the Ombudsman, is in possession of information, or has a document or thing in his power or control, that is relevant to the examination or investigation to furnish that information, document or thing to the Ombudsman and, where appropriate, may require the person to attend before him for that purpose and the person shall comply with the requirements.
(b) Paragraph (a) of this subsection does not apply to information or so much of a document as relates to decisions and proceedings of the Government or of any committee of the Government and for the purposes of this paragraph, a certificate given by the Secretary to the Government and certifying that any information or document or part of a document so relates shall be conclusive.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person to whom a requirement is addressed under this section shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he were a witness before the High Court.
(3) A person shall not by act or ommission obstruct or hinder the Ombudsman in the performance of his functions or do any other thing which would, if the Ombudsman were a court having power to commit for contempt of court, be contempt of such court.
(4) Any obligation to maintain secrecy or other restriction upon the disclosure of information obtained by or furnished to a Department of State or civil servant imposed by the Official Secrets Act, 1963 , shall not apply to an examination or investigation by the Ombudsman under this Act, and, subject to section 9 (2) of this Act, the State shall not be entitled in relation to any such examination or investigation to any such privilege in respect of the production of documents or the giving of evidence as is allowed by law in legal proceedings.
(5) The Ombudsman may, if he thinks fit, pay to the person affected by an action in respect of which an investigation is held by the Ombudsman under this Act and to any other person who attends or furnishes information for the purposes of the investigation—
(a) sums in respect of travelling and subsistence expenses properly incurred by them, and
(b) allowances by way of compensation for loss of their time,
of such amount as may be determined by the Minister.
(6) A statement or admission made by a person in a preliminary examination, or investigation, under this Act by the Ombudsman shall not be admissible as evidence against that person in any criminal proceedings.
(7) Nothing in subsection (3) of this section shall be construed as applying to the taking of any such action as is mentioned in section 4 (7) of this Act.
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paragraphs: —(1) An investigation by the Ombudsman under this Act shall be conducted otherwise than in public.
(2) Where the Ombudsman proposes to carry out an investigation under this Act into an action he shall afford—
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paragraphs: —(1) Information or a document or thing obtained by the Ombudsman or his officers in the course of, or for the purpose of, a preliminary examination, or investigation, under this Act shall not be disclosed except for the purposes of—
(a) the examination or investigation and of any statement, report or notification to be made thereon under this Act, or
(b) any proceedings for an offence under the Official Secrets Act, 1963 , alleged to have been committed in respect of information or a document or thing obtained by the Ombudsman or any of his officers by virtue of this Act,
and the Ombudsman or his officers shall not be called upon to give evidence in any proceedings (other than such proceedings as aforesaid) of matters coming to his or their knowledge in the course of a preliminary examination, or an investigation, under this Act.
(2) (a) A Minister of the Government may give notice in writing to the Ombudsman, with respect to any document, information or thing specified in the notice, or any class of document, information or thing so specified, that, in the opinion of the Minister of the Government, the disclosure (other than to the Ombudsman or officers of the Ombudsman) of that document, information or thing or of documents, or information or things of that class, would, for the reasons stated in the notice, be prejudicial to the public interest.
(b) The Revenue Commissioners may give notice in writing to the Ombudsman, with respect to any document, information or thing in their power or control specified in the notice, or any class of such document, information or thing so specified, that in the opinion of the Revenue Commissioners the disclosure (other than to the Ombudsman or officers of the Ombudsman) of that document, information or thing or of documents, information or things of that class, would, for the reasons stated in the notice, be prejudicial to the public interest.
(c) Where a notice is given under this subsection, nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorising or requiring the Ombudsman or any officer of the Ombudsman to communicate to any person or for any purpose any document, information or thing specified in the notice or any document, information or thing of a class so specified.
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paragraphs: —(1) (a) There shall be employed in the office of the Ombudsman so many officers and servants as the Minister shall from time to time determine.
(b) The power of appointing a person to be an officer or servant of the Ombudsman shall be vested in the Minister.
(2) Officers and servants of the Ombudsman shall be civil servants in the Civil Service of the State.
(3) The Ombudsman may delegate to any of his officers any of his functions under this Act save those conferred by subsections (5) and (7) of section 6 of this Act or by this section.
(4) The Minister may delegate to the Ombudsman the powers exercisable by him under the Civil Service Commissioners Act, 1956 , and the Civil Service Regulation Acts, 1956 and 1958, as the appropriate authority in relation to officers and servants of the Ombudsman, and, if he does so, then, so long as the delegation remains in force—
(i) those powers shall, in lieu of being exercisable by the Minister, be exercisable by the Ombudsman, and
(ii) the Ombudsman shall, in lieu of the Minister, be, for the purposes of this Act, the appropriate authority in relation to officers and servants of the Ombudsman.
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paragraphs: —Any expenses incurred in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
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paragraphs: —(1) This Act may be cited as the Ombudsman Act, 1980.
(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as may be appointed by the Government by order.