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Complaints

We take complaints about children’s public services in Ireland. Our service is free and independent. However you should first go directly to the public service you have an issue with. If you’re not satisfied with their response, then you can come to us.

Who can make a complaint?

Anyone can make a complaint to us about children’s public services in Ireland, including a child.

Anyone under
the age of 18

Parents

Extended
Family

Professionals working
with children

What can I complain about?

The Ombudsman for Children Act 2002 sets out the framework for our complaints work. Under this law, we provide a free and impartial complaints service. Our role is to see if a public body’s administrative actions have had an adverse effect on a child or children. In other words, we aim to see if a public body’s administration is effective or whether maladministration has occurred.

Schools

Hospitals

Government
Departments

Some state funded
public bodies

What can’t I complain about?

Our role is to see if a public body’s administrative actions have had an adverse effect on a child or children. However, there are a number of issues we cannot examine. 

Employment

Employment

We cannot investigate complaints relating to or affecting the terms or conditions of someone’s employment. For this reason, it is more appropriate for complaints about a professional’s conduct and/or practice to be made to the employer. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of that process, you may wish to bring your concerns to the attention of the relevant professional regulator.
You may click each profession here to source the appropriate professional regulator and a link to how to make a complaint.

Enrolment, suspension or expulsion

Enrolment, suspension or expulsion

If your complaint is about school refusal to enrol, suspension or expulsion this issue is included in the Education Act 1998 and the Department of Education is the first place to go. The Department of Education provides a Section 29 Appeal Process regarding decisions to refuse to enrol / suspend / expel a child. The Appeal Form, in addition to information about the process, is available online here.

Social welfare allowance

Social Welfare Allowances

Complaints about social welfare payments that are made to adults, are dealt with by the Office of the Ombudsman rather than the Ombudsman for Children’s Office
Time is also important when it comes to making a complaint. In most cases, we can only investigate a complaint made within two years of the time of the action.

Immigration issues

Immigration Issues

The Ombudsman for Children Act 2002, the law that sets out what we can and cannot investigate, states that we can’s investigate issues relating to asylum, immigration, naturalisation or citizenship. We do take complaints about the Direct Provision process.

Clinical judgement

Clinical Judgement

We do not have the authority to investigate clinical judgement in relation to the diagnosis of illness or the care or treatment of a patient.

Next steps

Our complaints process

Learn all about how our complaints process works. What to do before making a complaint, how to submit a complaint and what happens afterwards.

Learn about the process

Online complaints form

You can submit your complaint directly via our website by filling out our online complaints form. We will guide you through the process step by step.

Submit a complaint online

Complaints form in other languages

You can make a complaint to the OCO about children’s public services in Ireland in languages other than English or Irish. 

Other languages

Complaints in numbers

Take a look back at the OCO’s complaints stats from the last five years.

See our complaints data