The office of the Ombudsman received its highest number of complaints since 2010 last year, according to its annual report. The number of complaints has also continued to rise since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall (pictured) examines complaints about public services provides by a range of bodies, including government departments, local authorities and the HSE.

Housing

The number of complaints last year was 3,664, up 9% from 2018, with increases in almost all sectors.

According to the office’s annual report, dissatisfaction about housing saw complaints about local authorities rise by 12.6%. Complaints about the education sector, which includes bodies providing student grants and education grants for people with disabilities, increased by 17%.

Payment

This year, the Ombudsman says, there has been a sharp rise in complaints involving the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

This is because more people are now interacting with the Department, following the introduction of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

In one case, a man who was eligible for the payment was stranded in Poland and was refused payment when he applied online. The Ombudsman resolved the case within 24 hours and he received his payment.

Schemes

The Ombudsman’s annual report highlights the long delay in replacing the Department of Health’s Mobility Allowance and Motorised Transport Grant schemes., which have been closed to new applicants since 2013.

“There have been numerous promises to introduce new legislation but without any progress.”, the report says.

Hospital

Among the complaints the Ombudsman upheld last year was that of a woman attending Letterkenny University Hospital, who complained after a doctor discussed her medical history with her, but she realised it was not hers.

The woman was at the hospital preparing for a surgical procedure when she also discovered a letter on her file belonging to a different patient. The woman cancelled the procedure and complained to the hospital, which later apologised and reviewed its policies.