IRELAND | Spring issue 2016 of Ombudsman’s Casebook

The Irish Ombudsman has published the office’s spring edition 2016 of “The Ombudsman’s Casebook”.

The newest edition of the Casebook contains summaries of recent cases the Ombudsman has dealt with. By sharing the outcomes of cases the Irish Ombudsman offers everybody the possibility to learn from the mistakes and good practice of others.

In this month's Casebook:

• I’m Sorry: The Ombudsman has published a ‘Guide to Making a Meaningful Apology’ which is available in the ‘Guidelines for Public Bodies’ section of our website.
• Having the Right Rules and Procedures in Place: A student alleged that a lecturer had bullied her. The education body investigated the allegation under its ‘Staff policy on dealing with Bullying’ as it did not have an appropriate policy or procedure in place for dealing with complaints from students.
• Backdating Claims for Payments: A number of complaints involve the Department of Social Protection. This is due to the large number of interactions the Department has with the public in relation to social welfare benefits and payments.  In three cases in this edition the Ombudsman has upheld a complaint to have a social welfare payment backdated

The Ombudsman's Casebook is published every three months in electronic form. The Casebook is organised by subject area (Health, Social, Welfare, Planning, Housing, etc.) and contains cases from across the country.

Source: Ombudsman of Ireland