Accident victim gets €92,000 disability refund

A man left disabled in a work accident was paid more than €92,000 in benefit arrears following an investigation by the Ombudsman, it emerged today.

The man, injured in 1979, was not made aware of the disability benefit scheme until 2003.

The arrears paid by the Department of Social and Family Affairs, owed from over the 24-year period, totalled €92,213.

The complaint was among 2,245 valid concerns handled by the Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly last year.

Of those, almost 40% related to civil service departments and offices, while 37% involved local authorities, 17% related to the Health Service Executive, and 5% concerned An Post.

However, in the Ombudsman's Annual Report for 2006, Ms O'Reilly criticised the limitations of her office which cannot investigate complaints regarding the state's single purpose agencies, including FÁS, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Health and Safety Authority.

"Over the years there has been a hiving off of functions which were traditionally within the remit of ministers and their departments and the creation of new single-purpose agencies," she said.

"The practice of creating new agencies has accelerated in more recent times.

"There are now over 450 such bodies in existence, only a handful of which come within my remit as Ombudsman even though, paradoxically, many do come within the scope of Freedom of Information legislation.

"Other accountability mechanisms are also lacking in that they are subject to little or no parliamentary oversight and there has been a diminution in ministerial responsibility and control over functions which formerly were part of the relevant department.

"The need for legislation to correct this accountability deficit and to allow users of the services of these public bodies to complain to the Ombudsman, is long overdue."

Almost 11,400 people contacted the office during the year, with 2,245 complaints deemed to be valid.

The office, which had carried forward 838 cases from 2005, concluded 2,187 by the end of the year with 370 (17%) resolved in whole or in part. In 526 (24%) cases assistance was provided.

Ms O'Reilly, who took the post in June 2003, said 41% of complainants were better off as a result of having contacted the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman's role is to investigate complaints from members of the public who feel they have been unfairly treated by certain public bodies.

In another case resolved by the Office of the Ombudsman, a woman complained that her husband was being overcharged by the Health Service Executive (HSE) Western Area for in-patient services in a nursing home.

It emerged that her husband's sole income was €96.10 per week, but that he was being charged €120 per week for in-patient services as the HSE took his wife's income into account.

A total refund of €1,126 was made to the complainant.

The case also resulted in €131,000 being refunded to 51 families who were deemed to have been overcharged in the short period July 2005 to July 2006.

The Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has criticised the fact that the Refugee Appeals Tribunal is not included as a body she can take complaints on in her third annual report.