Ombudsman slams 'deliberate policy' to prohibit his office from representing prisoners

"I believe the othering of these people is not just morally wrong and unjustified, but dangerous," said Ombudsman Ger Deering on the exclusion of prisoners from his remit.

Ger Deering: 'I now believe that it is precisely because of the light that access to our office would shine in these areas that they were wilfully excluded by a deliberate provision in the legislation placing these people beyond our remit in 1980.'

Ireland's Ombudsman has said that he believes his office is "deliberately" not allowed represent prisoners, as it would "shine a light" on their treatment.

The Ombudsman's office cannot currently handle prisoner complaints, though a 2016 review of the existing system suggested that it should. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about public bodies including local authorities, Government departments, and the HSE.

However, presenting his office's annual report at an Oireachtas committee, Ger Deering said that this process is no further advanced.

Mr Deering told the Oireachtas petitions committee that "it is frustrating and unacceptable that the Office of the Ombudsman is still prohibited from dealing with complaints from prisoners".

"We, in collaboration with other agencies, have done considerable work to advance a fair and effective complaints system for prisoners that would be resolution-focused," he stated. "The solution is readily available.

"On taking up office, I genuinely thought that people who interact with the Department of Justice were excluded from the Ombudsman's remit because nobody cared about them. I no longer believe this. I now believe that it is precisely because of the light that access to our office would shine in these areas that they were wilfully excluded by a deliberate provision in the legislation placing these people beyond our remit in 1980. 

"Over 40 years later, it seems to me that it remains a deliberate policy to prohibit these people from making a complaint to the Ombudsman. I believe the othering of these people is not just morally wrong and unjustified, but dangerous."

Mr Deering told the meeting that Ireland is "an outlier" in European terms in not having an ombudsman represent prisoners and that allowing for such a change would be a "simple legislative change".

"I do not believe that it is a difficult legislative issue to address," he said. "We are often told that these things are complex legislative issues, but this is not."

The Ombudsman's annual report shows 5,297 complaints about public services were made in 2025 — an increase of 11% on the previous year, and the highest number in over 30 years.

Immigration and naturalisation

Mr Deering told the committee there is also a limitation in what his office can investigate around migrants. He said his office had received 143 complaints in 2025 about the Department of Justice but these were "largely in areas which are not within my statutory remit as Ombudsman to investigate, namely, those concerning immigration and naturalisation matters".

"Just to be clear... we are not seeking to interfere with any decisions in relation to whether somebody is entitled to citizenship or residency," he stated. "We are looking at how people get treated in the system. There is a portal, but the issue we hear about sometimes is that people go to that portal and try to engage, but there are no responses coming back."

The Ombudsman saw a continued increase in complaints about local authorities — up 20% on the 2024 figure, to 1,793 complaints last year. Some 248 complaints were made to the Ombudsman about Dublin City Council last year, while 200 involved Cork City Council.