Complaints to the office of the Ombudsman have risen to a 10-year high as victims of the recession seek help to access social welfare and other benefits.
Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said the huge rise in complaints to her office last year was predictable given the scale and depth of Ireland’s recession.
The fact that more people were engaging with public bodies should not lead to lower standards of people being unfairly treated, she said.
Overall, the number of complaints rose 30 per cent last year, to 3,727. Complaints against the HSE were up 44 per cent and accounted for over one-quarter of the total. Complaints against the civil service grew by 39 per cent to account for almost half of all complaints.
Complaints against local authorities were up 14 per cent and those against An Post increased by 23 per cent.
Complaints against the Department of Social Protection rose by 53 per cent in 2010 to 1,181 as more people sought to gain entitlement to unemployment benefits.
Ms O’Reilly strongly welcomed the Government’s commitment to extend the remit of her office to all publicly funded bodies. She said this had been promised since 1994 and would bring bodies dealing with prisons, refugees and applicants for citizenship under the remit of the ombudsman.
She said official contacts had opened between staff in the new Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and her own officials about implementing the changes proposed in the programme for government.
The ombudsman also welcomed the Government commitment to establish a new Oireachtas committee as a formal channel of consultation between the Oireachtas and the ombudsman. She said she looked forward to working with the committee to support the independence of her office.
Some 1,317 complaints made last year were outside Ms O'Reilly's jurisdiction, up 22 per cent when compared to 2009. Most of these were referred to other bodies such as the financial services or pensions ombudsman, she said.
