Collection

Case studies

From Office of the Ombudsman

Published on 1 August 2024

Last updated on 10 December 2024

Our Staff Discuss Cases

Read Our Case Studies

Health

Outdated referral process sees hospital appointment and cancer diagnosis delayed

Hospital refused to deal with bereaved parents’ complaint as it was ‘outside time limit’

HSE grants woman ‘physical and sensory disability’ support after circumstances highlighted by the Ombudsman

Social Welfare

Man has pension payment backdated to date of eligibility

Man was wrongly refused Carers’ Allowance when medical report was ‘missed’ by appeals office

Department of Social Protection wrongly sought to recover €26,000 pandemic social welfare payment

Local Authority / Housing

Council’s withdrawal of emergency accommodation was ‘inappropriate and unreasonable’

Council agrees to apply rent hardship clause in Housing Assistance Payment scheme

Local authorities used outdated circular for deciding ‘right to reside’ and entitlement to housing support

Education

Student denied full grant due to mistaken belief that she attended previous course

Student sees education grant wrongly reduced after break from her course

Student was refused access to education scheme as ‘absent’ father had ineligible occupation

Other Sectors

Man refunded over €17,000 from Revenue after clarification of residency status

Other Case Studies:

Annual reports contain summaries of cases we have investigated during that year.
Social Media: You can also find examples of case studies on our X and LinkedIn accounts.
The Ombudsman's Casebook provided summaries of complaints, both upheld and not upheld, across all the areas we deal with. It helped service providers to learn from our investigation of complaints, and to see what similar organisations are doing well and not so well. The Ombudsman's Casebook is still available online and can be downloaded or printed. The Ombudsman’s Casebook was produced between 2017 and 2021.

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