LABOUR LEADER Eamon Gilmore accused the Government of “systematically slaughtering the watchdogs whose purpose is to stand up for the rights of individual citizens”.

He said the Government had obstructed the ombudsman’s investigation into the failure by successive governments to meet a legal obligation to provide nursing home care to older people. Potentially, taxpayers could be exposed to billions of euro in compensation claims.

Emily O’Reilly, he said, had referred to “unprecedented opposition and frustration of her investigation, by both the HSE and the Department of Health”.

The Government, Mr Gilmore added, was “a serial offender” as far as dealing with bodies, including the office of the ombudsman, which were supposed to stand for people.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the ombudsman had acted outside her mandate in the report, adding that the office did not deal with issues before the courts.

“It deals with administrative malpractices and complaints that become before it,” he said. “If a person seeks to resolve a matter through the courts, it is dealt with by the courts.”

He said an allegation had been made that the Department of Health had failed to co-operate with the investigation. “The investigation sought to obtain the legal strategy in respect of cases that were before the courts,” he said.

“That is not within the remit of the Ombudsman Act.”