The office of Ombudsman ought to be preserved from “disproportionate cuts” in its finances, Emily O’Reilly has told an event in Co Antrim to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the equivalent office in Northern Ireland.
The Ombudsman told the conference of the special connection between the two offices on the island of Ireland and of her belief that each was beneficial to the other.
Regarding resources for the office in hard economic times, Ms O’Reilly said while efficiency and cost-effectiveness are “key elements which the public service must pursue”.
She added that in spite of this “fair treatment is vital and must not be lost sight of when efficiency measures are being introduced”.
Former senator Maurice Hayes recalled his years in the North’s Commissioner for Complaints office, especially his time during the height of the public and political unrest.
He said: “It always surprised me that although business was brisk, in the middle of civil disorder and mayhem, we were dealing mainly with comparative pinpricks and had no power to investigate much less resolve the issues which mainly bothered people – policing, security and taxes.” He warned against the splintering of an ombudsman’s function.