How to Complain

The Disability Act 2005 says –
Government departments and public bodies must work to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities

Under the Disability Act a public body includes –

• Government Offices and Government Departments
• The Office of the President
• Local authorities.

Local authorities are sometimes called city and county councils.

• People and organisations that get money from the government and do work for the government.

This does not include the Army, the Navy or the Air Force.

Public buildings are accessible

Access to services for people with disabilities is the same as access for people without disabilities. This includes giving someone help when they need it, so that people with disabilities can access the service.

Information and communication must be accessible to people with disabilities. This can include Plain English, Easy to Read information and Sign Language

Every public body must have –

• An Access Officer to make sure there is help for people with disabilities using the service.
• People working with the organisation who are able to tell the public body how to make services accessible.

But services may not have to be accessible

• if it is difficult to achieve or
• if it may cost too much or
• if it may cause long delays in providing a service or goods.

Heritage or historic sites that are owned or run by a public body and open to the public must be accessible for people with disabilities.

Dublin Castle, New Grange and the Rock of Cashel are examples of historic sites in Ireland.

But access can be limited if the layout or history of the site makes access too difficult.

Under the Disability Act, 6 Government departments must have sectoral plans.

A sectoral plan explains what the department can do to provide services for people with disabilities, for example putting information into easy-to-read format.

Under the Disability Act the Ombudsman can look at complaints about access to public services in Ireland.

First you, or a person on your behalf, must complain in writing to the public body in charge of the building or the service you could not access

The public body should have an independent Inquiry Officer who will look at your complaint.

The Inquiry Officer must write a report with the results of what they found out. They must give a copy of the report to the head of the public service and a copy of the report to you or the person who made the complaint on your behalf.

If you are not happy with the Inquiry Officer’s decision, you can ask the Ombudsman to look into your complaint.

Someone else can complain to the Ombudsman on your behalf, if you give them written permission to do so.

You can send your complaint to the Ombudsman’s office:

• by email
• by post
• in person at the Ombudsman office in Dublin or
• at Ombudsman Office Outreach visits

When sending your complaint to the ombudsman you should include the following documents:

• your complaint to the public body
• the reply you got from the public body and the Inquiry Officer’s report
• any other documents that might help the Ombudsman look into your complaint.

If the Ombudsman finds a problem with how your complaint was handled, he or she can recommend that the public body:

• takes another look at your complaint.
• takes actions to make things better.
• explains its actions to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman can ask for a response to their recommendations by a certain date.

If you need help to access the Ombudsman services, you can contact their Access Officer. The Access Officer gives help to access the service but does not look into your complaint.

Ombudsman Access Officer: Peter Mahony

Postal Address: 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 W773.

Telephone: 01-6395625

E-mail: accessofficer@ombudsman.ie

For more information about making a complaint about a public body visit the Ombudsman website.

(Information included on Making a Complaint under the Disability Act is from Ombudsman website and is subject to copyright.)