The Mental Health Commission is committed to providing information and services which are accessible to all.
The Disability Act 2005 defines ‘access’ broadly. In this context, it includes physical access to the MHC’s offices as well as access to information generally.
Contacting our Access Officer
The role of our Access Officer is to support each individual who requires assistance when engaging with the MHC. In accordance with Section 26 of the Disability Act 2005, if you require assistance to access our services, please contact our Access Officer.
You may contact our Access Officer by post, email or telephone. The contact details are as follows:
Access Officer, Information Governance Unit, Mental Health Commission, Waterloo Exchange, Waterloo House, Dublin 4, DO4E5W7
By email
By phone
01 6362400
Making a complaint
If you wish to make a complaint in relation to access to the MHC, and its compliance with the terms of the Disability Act 2005, you may do so by sending your complaint to the Chief Executive. Complaints must be in writing and sent by post or by email. The contact details are as follows:
By post
Chief Executive, Mental Health Commission, Waterloo Exchange, Waterloo House, Dublin 4, DO4E5W7
By email
Form
Alternatively, you can use the Accessibility Complaint Form
Making a complaint on someone’s behalf
Section 38 of the Disability Act 2005 states that a person or a ‘specified person’ may make a complaint in writing to the head of a public body. A specified person can be:
- a husband, wife, parent or relative of a person with disability
- a guardian or person acting on behalf of a person with disability
- a legal representative of a person with disability
- a personal advocate assigned to represent a person with disability
If you would like someone to make a request on your behalf, you must provide written authorisation allowing them to do so. This should accompany your letter or email of complaint.
Processing the complaint
Once your complaint is received, it is passed to an Inquiry Officer for investigation. The Disability Act 2005 states that a public body must appoint an Inquiry Officer to examine complaints made. It also states that each public body must publish a document with guidelines about how complaints are dealt with.
Investigations are carried out in private. The Inquiry Officer must write a report detailing the results of the investigation. This report is provided to the Chief Executive of the MHC. It is also provided to you and/or the person who made the complaint on your behalf.
The report must show what the Inquiry Officer found and decided about your complaint. If the Inquiry Officer decides that your complaint is valid, the report must also outline what the MHC should now do to fix this problem.
Timeframe
The Inquiry Officer will issue an acknowledgement within five working days from the receipt of the complaint. S/he will provide the report within 15 working days. Where information is not readily available, this deadline may be extended. If that were to happen, the Inquiry Officer will inform the complainant at the earliest opportunity and provide a revised date by which the report will be provided.
Fees
There is no charge for making a complaint about access.
Appeals to the Ombudsman
If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaints’ process, you may appeal the decision to the Ombudsman. You may contact the Ombudsman by post or by email. The contact details are as follows:
By post
Office of the Ombudsman, 6 Earlsfort Terrace, Saint Kevins, Dublin 2, DO2 W773
By email
If, after investigation, the Ombudsman finds an issue with how your complaint was handled, s/he may recommend that the public body:
- takes another look at your complaint
- takes certain actions to make things better
- explains its actions to the Ombudsman
There is no charge for making a complaint to the Ombudsman.