| 5 Jørgen Steen Sørensen Parliamentary Ombudsman Every year as Ombudsman — and also in 2018 — I have given many talks on the institution’s work. The talks usually give rise to discussions and questions. Mostly about cases we have investigated. But also many questions on what it is really like to be Ombudsman. The last question is simple to answer in headline form: exciting, meaningful and educational. But I am not usually let off that easily. Here is a selection of questions I am often asked – and my answers: What is the most difficult thing about being Ombudsman? It can of course be difficult to find the correct legal answers in the cases. But it is made a great deal easier by highly qualified staff, thorough processes and a good dialogue with the authorities. In my experience, clearly the most difficult thing is prioritising. The Ombudsman institution has just over a 100 staff and covers a public administration with 800,000 employees. It is by no means possible to investigate all cases. So what should I take up, and what should I leave? And how big are the problems I leave, I wonder? The Ombudsman must be politically neutral – but is that possible? Yes, absolutely. An Ombudsman has political opinions, just like everybody else. But he has to leave those opinions at home when he goes to work. Just like, for instance, judges. This is especially important to show in those – not very many but often intensively publicized – cases of political interest. Here, I must be particularly careful to lay out the legal arguments openly so that anybody can test them. And then trust in the outside world to understand that an assessment can well be legal even though it has political consequences.