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Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly publishes four Investigation Reports into successfully resolved complaints

Date released: 14.11.2011

  • Case 1: Woman badly treated in HSE Dublin mental health out-patient clinic gets apology – HSE undertakes to improve staff training and acknowledges failure to address her concerns fully and in a timely way.
  • Case 2:Department apologises over two years stalled redundancy claim payment and makes an ex-gratia payment to compensate.
  • Case 3:Decision by Department that woman applicant for child benefit failed to satisfy habitual residency requirement overturned – arrears of €3,942 paid.
  • Case 4:Clerical error by nursing home drove HSE decision to refuse to pay a nursing home subvention for recovering stroke patient – Decision reversed and ex-gratia payment of €10,670 made.

The Ombudsman periodically selects from the thousands of complaints made to her every year, a small number with good outcomes for the people involved and publicises them on the Ombudsman website. This helps to increase the public visibility and awareness of the wide-ranging work of her Office and how the free, impartial and independent service provided can help people to put a wrong right. The four Reports will be of interest to the general public as well as public representatives and organisations who provide advice, support or advocacy services to people having trouble in their dealings with public bodies.

Commenting, the Ombudsman said “For the complainants involved it is not simply the case that their grievances were rigorously pursued and their complaints were upheld, but that in two cases my complainants got an apology and remedial action, and in the other two, decisions of the public bodies were reversed following forensic examination of the facts and records by my Office. The constructive engagement with my Office by the HSE and the two Government Departments involved is to be welcomed. It also reflects their commitment to better standards of public service for their customers and their willingness, following engagement with my Office, to look again with an open mind at decisions or inactions which adversely impacted on people.”

For media enquiries contact:

Dave Glynn - Head of Communications and Research

Tel: 01 639 5714 / 087 236 1884 email: david_glynn@ombudsman.gov.ie