Speech Marking the 40th Anniversary of the Office of the Ombudsman
Áras an Uachtaráin, Wednesday, 23rd October 2024
A cháirde,
May I say how pleased I am to welcome our Ombudsman Ger Deering, the Director-General Elaine Cassidy and the members of staff of the Office of the Ombudsman to Áras an Uachtaráin as we mark the milestone of the 40th anniversary since the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman in Ireland.
Traoslaím libh as an obair fiúntach atá bainte amach agaibh sa daichead bliain seo.
For democracy to thrive, accountability is a fundamental cornerstone of citizens’ rights and citizenship. In its examining of complaints from citizens who feel they have been unfairly treated by a public service provider in Ireland, the Office of the Ombudsman functions as a vital independent apparatus, ensuring that government departments, local authorities, the HSE, nursing homes and publicly funded third-level education bodies strive for fairness and thus help to achieve a quality but above all accountable public service for all in a way that is transparent as regards the information it provides, as well as timely in relation to its decision-making process.
The establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman, in 1984, was a significant event in the development of Irish public administration and indeed in the development of our democracy, making, as it did, an important contribution in terms of accountability to the effective implementation of decisions made by the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The creation of an accessible, impartial grievance mechanism, one that was made available to all members of the public, acknowledged that at the heart of a commitment to participative and engaged citizenship must be a genuine desire to ensure that all citizens are enabled to exercise their voice and to see their rights and entitlements vindicated.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the Ombudsman’s Office is its role in addressing an imbalance in terms of the empowerment, or lack of it, of citizens to enter into informed dialogue about decisions that affect their lives, and be allowed to defend themselves or to assert their opinions when they feel their rights are being violated. The Ombudsman is asked to marshal that space between law and practice and, in doing so, it protects the true performance of democratic intent.
I recall, as a legislator, the profound frustration and occasional dismay that I felt when the main purpose or intent of hard-won legislative achievements on the floors of the Dáil and Seanad Chambers faded away, were contradicted, or simply negated by administrative intransigence, inertia, or a reluctance on the part of some to accept the expressed wisdom of the parliamentary system.
Parliament is at the heart of our democratic system, but, acting alone, parliament cannot ensure citizenship, participation, equality, inclusion and the protection of human rights. We must recognise too that the limitations of the traditional doctrine of separation of powers when applied in the context of complex contemporary administrative systems is challenging.
Citizens’ relationship with government and the State is at its best when rule-making and its consequences are embedded in a shared ethical context that accepts and values transparency. The challenge of our times is to be able to summon up the critical capacity that might create an adequate ethical context, one that is put into practice, to all of our actions – as citizens, as bureaucratic actors, as policymakers and legislators.
This is challenging in the context of the political economy paradigm, one that we have endured for over four decades, one which placed a low or non-existent emphasis on ethics. However, we have seen in recent years a movement from the street that is attempting to bring a morally grounded model of existence into being, one that better aligns economy, society, ecology and ethics, one that is informed by inclusive and emancipatory scholarship. We have some reasons to be hopeful.
The writings of German political economist Max Weber often come to mind when considering the relationship between the citizen and bureaucratic authority.
Weber described many ideal types of public administration and government in his landmark book, Economy and Society[1]. That critical study of the bureaucratisation of society became one of the most enduring parts of his work, leading to the popularisation of the term.
While recognising bureaucracy as the most efficient form of rational organisation and even indispensable for some aspects of the modern state, Weber also saw in it a threat to individual freedoms, with the ongoing bureaucratisation as leading to a dehumanised “polar night of icy darkness”, in which increasing rationalisation of human life – taken to extremes – trapped individuals in the “iron cage” of bureaucratic, rules-based, rational control.
Such control that has lost the underlying purpose of actions can result in a redefinition of the ways in which the overall goals of the bureaucracy are implemented, undermining them, or even delivering, in the name of a rationality reduced to calculability and, at worse, ritual observance, what is irrational in essence.
When engaging with the State in its contemporary form, we know that many of our citizens, in particular those on the margins, our most vulnerable, can sometimes feel as if they have entered an atmosphere of irrationality in the name of rules – Weber’s “polar night of icy darkness”, that dehumanised landscape is one in which some of our citizens and administrators may feel trapped by routine and a rules-based version of procedures whose initial intention has been forgotten.
It is no surprise, therefore, that citizens may perceive that their rights are subordinate, are being forced to give way to a need for administrative efficiency and to bureaucratic rules and criteria that are often difficult to comprehend. It is in this space that we must rely on the Ombudsman’s impartial investigative expertise.
Through its independent oversight of the Irish bureaucratic system, the Office of the Ombudsman has over four decades effected some profound and positive transformations in the delivery of public services in Ireland. The achievements of the Office have been significant, and its mission of promoting the principles of openness, fairness, accountability and effectiveness has played a major part in the reform and modernisation of our civil and public service for which I would like to commend the Office as well as the current and past Ombudsmen who have all brought their own unique talents and skills to the role, enabling the Office to continually evolve and adapt to the challenges of our ever changing society.
Aside from the daily complaints investigated, which I understand amount to some 5,000 annually, your systemic investigations have been a significant contribution to public life, resulting in substantial improvements in the lives of those impacted.
I think, for example, of the Wasted Lives report concerning people under 65 years of age who have been forced to live in nursing homes, and the recent Sickness and in Debt report, which has led to repayments for people who had to finance their own essential healthcare abroad when the HSE was unable to deliver.
Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of the Office has been in its establishing of its independence. Michael Mills, the Office’s first Ombudsman, must be given credit for this achievement in no small part.
Michael Mills’ successor, the late Kevin Murphy, played a significant role in the identification of bureaucratic systemic flaws during his term as Ombudsman.
Emily O’Reilly’s commitment, energy and passion for human rights considerably raised the impact and profile of the Office, including her achievements in ensuring the extension of the Freedom of Information Act to many public bodies.
As President of Ireland, I have had the pleasure of appointing the previous Ombudsman, Peter Tyndall, and the recently appointed incumbent, Ger Deering. Peter’s desire to advance the position of the Office, including through the establishment of a centralised complaints-handling process, and his work on lobbying transparency, made an inspiring contribution to the history of the Office.
I have every faith that Ger Deering’s impressive experience in consumer and employment rights, with his focus on the rights of the marginalised, will bring an important perspective to the ongoing development of the Office.
Mar fhocal scoir, ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil libh as a bheith i láthair anseo inniu, agus ar son muintir na hÉireann, ba mhaith liom admhaigh agus mol bhur n-obair agus tiomantas leanúnach chun caighdeán ard agus cóir de riaracháin phoiblí a bhaint amach sa tír seo.
May I conclude by thanking the musicians this afternoon, Clare McGague on harp and Ciaran O’Connell on flute. I thank you all for coming here today and, on behalf of the people of Ireland, I would like to acknowledge and commend your excellent work and continued commitment to the achievement of the highest and fairest standards of public administration in this country.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go leir is beir beannacht.
[1] Weber, Max (1921). Economy and Society, various editions.
