Complaints to Ombudsman at 10-year high

Complaints to the Office of the Ombudsman rose by almost a third last year.

In her office's annual report for 2010 published today, Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly revealed that complaints are at a 10-year high.

The report describes the increase of 30% on the previous year's figures as "soaring".

But the complaints are not always being made to the right place - frustratingly, 1,317 complaints made in 2010 were outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction.

In total, the Ombudsman received 9,000 enquiries.

Further details on spotlighted investigations, contained in the report, will be released later this morning and is available at www.ombudsman.ie.