Ombudsman Peter Tyndall received 3,021 complaints about providers of public services last year. 224 complaints were from people living in Limerick.Â
The Ombudsman’s annual report for 2017 was published today, Wednesday, June 20, and shows that the sectors that were the most complained about in 2017 were:
Government Departments/Offices – 953 complaints
Local Authorities – 852 complaints
Health and social care sector – 608 complaints
The Ombudsman received an increased number of complaints about the local authority sector in 2017. This was as a result of a rise in planning enforcement complaints (114 in 2017 compared with 95 in 2016) and housing cases (379 compared with 364 in 2016).
59 of the 852 Local Authority complaints were against Limerick City and County Council, 109 against Dublin City Council, 72 against Cork County Council, 66 against Cork City Council. This reverses the trend from 2016 where for the first time Cork City Council was higher than Dublin City Council.
There were also 7 complaints made against three educational institutions within Limerick. 3 complaints against the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, 2 against the University of Limerick and 2 against the Limerick Institute of Technology.
The Ombudsman also announced today that he will shortly be publishing a report into ‘end of life care’ in Irish hospitals. The report is expected to show the progress that has been made since his commentary on complaints about end of life care – ‘A Good Death’.
New Ombudsman website
The Ombudsman today also launched a new website for his Office –www.ombudsman.ie – which makes it easier for people to make a complaint to his Office, and provides advice and information to the public and service providers.
Ombudsman Annual Report 2017 (English pdf)
Tuarascáil Bhliantúil 2017 (Gaeilge pdf)
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