- Ombudsman to retire after almost eight years in Office

Complaints to Ombudsman Peter Tyndall about public services, such as those provided by government departments, local authorities and the HSE, remained high in 2020 despite the pandemic. 

The Ombudsman received 3,418 complaints from the public last year, a drop of 6% from the 2019 figures, but the highest number since 2015.  Speaking today [9 June] at the publication of his annual report for 2020, Peter Tyndall also announced that this will be his final annual report as he will be retiring from his position after almost eight years as Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman also expressed his concern about the continued reliance on congregated 

settings in Ireland - an issue highlighted in his recent investigation into the placement of younger people in nursing homes (‘Wasted Lives: Time for a better future for younger people in nursing homes’).

The Ombudsman said:

“COVID has shown us how flexible and capable our public services can be in a crisis.   We need to bring that urgency and ‘can do’ philosophy to tackling issues with congregated settings including those for people with disabilities and applicants for international protection.  That would be a heart-warming legacy from a grim year.”

Government Departments and Offices, which include the Department of Social Protection, were the largest source of complaints to the Ombudsman in 2020 (32%), followed by local authorities (26%), and the Health and Social Care sector (18%).

There were 735 complaints about the Department of Social Protection including 126 complaints about the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP).  Most of the complaints about the PUP were about arrears of payments to applicants after the Department received 

ver one million applications, some of which were repeat applications as a result of people moving in and out of employment. The Ombudsman said that while it had taken time for the Department to pay the arrears, he was satisfied that appropriate systems were put in place to deal with the issue.     

The Ombudsman’s annual report for 2020 is available at www.ombudsman.ie.

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