Ombudsman chronicles 236 local problems over public services
Complaints from the public to Ombudsman Peter Tyndall rose by 11% in 2018 – with more than 3,300 issues over public services last year.
Speaking at the publication of his annual report for 2018, the Ombudsman also revealed that 236 of these complaints came from people in Galway; that’s seven per cent of the national total.
The largest number of complaints was about services provided by government departments (1,065). Complaints about local authority services (879), and health and social care services (730) accounted for most of the remaining complaints.
The health and social care sector saw the largest increase with 122 more complaints received in 2018 than in 2017.
A total of 42 complaints were made about Galway City Council while the Ombudsman received 37 about Galway County Council. NUIG was the subject of five complaints.
One of the complaints against Galway City Council – which is highlighted in the annual report – concerned a local authority tenant who had continued to pay his rent by standing order, only to be told his account was in arrears.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.