Results 121-140 of 1,040,537 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Martin Browne) in 'Committee meetings'

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: I will read some formal notices. I remind members of the constitutional requirements that they must be physically present within the confines of the place which parliament has chosen to sit, namely, Leinster House, to participate in public meetings. I will not permit members to participate where they are not adhering to this constitutional requirement. Therefore, any member who attempts to...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: I will ask one or two questions before I let in other members. I note that Mr. Deering has said there is an inconsistency in how different local authorities deliver their services and deal with complaints, and as a result, we have developed a model complaint handling procedure. How is that working? Are local authorities receptive and collaborating?

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: The model has not been rolled out and launched.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: I asked that because some of the difficulties every public representative would get would concern the issue of the taking in charge of estates. There is the Department and Uisce Éireann.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: Every member will say how frustrating it is to deal with such matters. Has the public brought any of those kinds of incidents to the attention to the Office of the Ombudsman in terms of trying to deal with both a council and Uisce Éireann? I ask that because for ten or 12 years, there are estates that have been left in complete darkness with the roads not finished.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: Yes. In 2021, the Office of the Ombudsman published the Grounded report, which outlined the lack of access to transport for people with disabilities. The Ombudsman stated in his report that he met officials from the Department of the Taoiseach on a number of occasions but he also said the "lack" of progress was nothing short of shameful. We had a disability strategy from 2017 to 2022 and...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: Yet still the same problems.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: The Ombudsman believes we need to get an Department or Minister who will be directly responsible.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: I agree with the Ombudsman because at the minute the approach is one of pass the buck and blame someone else. I want to know about access to public buildings. My own town of Cashel has a gold star. It was not until I went around the town with your chaps, who are dead since, and may they rest in peace, that we found out, even after being awarded a gold star, how much more needed to be done....

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: Ms O'Shea has lodged a complaint and I will too. Ms O'Shea in contact with the Ombudsman.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: Work away, Deputy.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: You are okay.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: I might help. A girl called Michelle O'Shea from Golden, who is disabled, has a video out at the minute about access. I encourage people to look at her video.

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: We also want to be associated with what Senator Craughwell has said. Coming back to the immigration end of it and the integration in communities, we see people being moved who have been living, for example, in Borrisokane in my county of Tipperary, for ten or 12 years and are integrated into the football clubs, the Tidy Towns and the whole lot. What are the Ombudsman's views on that? We...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: Senator Craughwell was talking about the language that is being used. The Ombudsman himself said it. Has the Ombudsman had many complaints about, for example, local radio or national radio? As we said, it is scandalous that people are being painted as rapists, paedophiles, undocumented and unvetted. In some stations, there does not seem to be any impartiality to try to stop that kind of...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: In 2020, the then Ombudsman, Mr. Peter Tyndall, was dealing with complaints about water services. Irish Water, or Uisce Éireann as it is now known, was set up to take control of this. We see boil-water notices daily, and there are places with water outages, etc., for months. There is frustration among the public and ourselves. We have a direct line to the organisation, trying to get...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: In his opening statement the Ombudsman said, "The Ombudsman team has developed a strong and insightful knowledge and empathetic approach to dealing with complainants and complaints in what can be delicate and emotive circumstances." With the Ombudsman's current resources, what does the future look like? Does he reckon that future will guarantee timely, efficient and effective resolution to...

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: Is Mr. Deering satisfied the recommendations his office has made are being implemented? He has noted his frustration about the implementation of recommendations outlined in the Wasted Lives report on the nursing homes issue. Are there other areas in which he is finding there is more resistance and is there anything the committee can do to improve that?

Committee on Public Petitions: Office of the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 and Related Matters: Discussion (11 Jul 2024)

Martin Browne: I give a guarantee on that and I think other members will as well. We hope to get Mr. Deering back as early as possible in the new term to address the housing issues discussed earlier and disability.