THE NUMBER of complaints received by the Office of the Ombudsman increased by 8 per cent last year to the highest level for more than a decade, according to its annual report.
Problems with the Civil Service, Health Service Executive (HSE) and local authorities were the primary sources of the 2,787 complaints received, of which more than 30 per cent, 821, were not upheld.
The 8 per cent growth in complaints, which followed a 14 per cent increase in 2007, was not necessarily a reflection on a worsening public service, Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said.
Rather, it was down to the rise in the numbers accessing social welfare services, supplementary income benefits and medical cards because of the recession, as well as a growing knowledge among citizens of how to complain about problems with the public service.
“The increase is mainly down to the economic downturn,” Ms O’Reilly said.
“[More people] need help from the State and they have not had to go to the State in the same numbers over the last few years, so a lot of people are new to the system . . . and when they don’t get help or feel they are unfairly treated they are coming to my office.”
Ms O’Reilly said the “remarkably low level” of complaints received under the Disability Act 2005 last year, six in total, was a cause for concern and that a lot of public servants have a “serious lack of knowledge” about their responsibilities under the Act.
Under the Act, public bodies are required to ensure buildings, services, websites and information are accessible to people with all types of disabilities.
“We only got six complaints, and in the year before that I only got three, so either everything is absolutely perfect, which I somewhat doubt, or else there is something going on,” she said.
Ms O’Reilly said a survey found that just 20 of 105 public bodies covered by the Act had information on their website about contacting their access officers .
“To me that is not just a legal failure, because there is a legal obligation on public bodies to do this, but there is also a moral and ethical failure because it seemed to me that, I don’t know but people might suggest, that it is because they simply don’t think it is important enough.”
In response to the problem, she could name and shame the bodies not fulfilling their obligations and report them to the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Ms O’Reilly also urged the HSE to ensure that it was consistent in how it handled applications for domiciliary care allowances in respect of children with serious medical conditions.
According to the report, problems with the Civil Service accounted for 1,086 or some 39.1 per cent, of the complaints received last year, a 2.3 per cent drop on 2007.
Local authorities were involved in 838, 30.1 per cent, of complaints, a 3.3 per cent reduction on the previous year.
A total of 764 complaints were lodged against the HSE, a 5.3 per cent increase on the previous year, while 93 complaints were made against An Post, a marginal increase on 2007.
An additional 1,154 complaints made to the Office of the Ombudsman last year fell outside its jurisdiction.
Last year, the office completed 2,701 cases, a 7 per cent increase on the 2,520 recorded in 2007 and 1,040 cases were carried forward to this year.
Of these, assistance was provided in 26.2 per cent, 23 per cent were discontinued, 16 per cent were resolved and 2.6 per cent were withdrawn.
A total of 686 complaints originated in Co Dublin, followed by 283 in Co Cork, while only 17 complaints came from Co Leitrim.
A total of 559 complaints was made against the Department of Social and Family Affairs, of which 31.3 per cent related to child benefit and 19.5 per cent to old-age pensions.
Ms O’Reilly said each decision made by her office not only helped the individual concerned, but helped other public bodies to learn from the mistake and improve their own services.
