Ombudsman to criticise Government in annual report

The Ombudsman, Mr Kevin Murphy, will again criticise the Government for failing to introduce legislation allowing his office to investigate the biggest hospitals in the State, at the publication of his annual report tomorrow.

Legislation, allowing the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate complaints against the 27 public voluntary hospitals was promised in the 1994 Programme for Government.

These hospitals include the Mater, Beaumont and St James's in Dublin, the Mercy in Cork, Portiuncula in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, as well as the three main maternity hospitals in Dublin.

Mr Murphy will express his "regret" at having to report that "no progress in giving practical effect" to that commitment had been made.

Speaking at the publication of last year's annual report, Mr Murphy noted a Bill giving effect to the proposal had been drafted six years previously, and had been "announced" twice by the Department of Finance. .

"But it's never seen the light of day," he said then.

He noted in the absence of such legislation patients with complaints against hospitals had no option but to take the risky and costly route through the courts. Tomorrow's will be Mr Murphy's final report before he retires on June 1st.

He will welcome the fact that all recommendations in his office's special report to the Oireachtas last November, Redress For Taxpayers, were last month accepted by the Department of Finance. The report was commissioned because the Revenue Commissioners had rejected three of his five recommendations following an investigation into complaints against them.

The report will also cover Mr Murphy's investigations into complaints against the Department of Education and Science, health boards and local authorities. It will show a slight drop in the number of valid complaints to the office. Last year saw an increase in the number of valid complaints, of the order of 19 per cent.