A woman and her neighbours who lost their statutory right to object to a planning application after an oversight by Wexford County Council received €1,000 each following an investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman.
According to the office's 2006 annual report, when the woman and her neighbours tried to inspect the planning application for a development beside their homes, they were incorrectly told that the council had received no such application.
It transpired that the council had noted the electoral address rather than the postal address of the proposed development in its computer system, but by the time the application was discovered, it was too late for her to apply.
She was also mistakenly advised by the council to apply to An Bord Pleanála for leave to appeal, which involved an accompanying fee. This application was subsequently turned down by the board.
The ombudsman asked the council to provide redress, which it did in the form of €1,000 each to the complainant and to each of her neighbours. This was in recognition of their statutory loss of the right to appeal, plus a refund of the fees incurred in appealing to An Bord Pleanála.
Elsewhere, the report outlines the situation of a man who was badly injured in a work accident in 1974, but who was refused some €92,000 in arrears owed by the Department of Social and Family Affairs.
He only became aware that he was entitled to the benefit when an official asked him in 2003 why he was not in receipt of same. Disablement benefit is separate to disability benefit and is paid to persons who suffer the loss of mental or physical ability as a result of an accident at work.
The ombudsman established he was never made aware he was entitled to this benefit, and said it should be backdated from 1979 to 2003, when he first received the benefit. He received €92,213.
In another case study, a woman's right to residency was not taken into account when South Dublin County Council allowed her brother to buy their home from it. Due to a lack of communication within the council, this meant she and her child had to leave the home.
The council subsequently offered her a new two-bedroom apartment in her chosen area.