Don’t let them put the people’s whistleblower out of business

IN the general furore about the estimates, the savage cut of 14% in the allocation for the Office of the Ombudsman could easily go unnoticed.

Keep Ireland Open are very concerned about this attack on the very bedrock of our democracy. The herculean efforts of Kevin Murphy and his small team of dedicated workers will be severely hindered. Lest it be thought that there might be less demand for his services, we would point out that the truth is quite the opposite. Looking at the annual report for 2001 we find that the number of complaints increased by 19% and the cases on hand at the end of the year increased by no less than 51%.

We have found the work of the ombudsman to be invaluable in confronting local authorities with the many instances where they have failed to enforce the planning laws.