The number of complaints made in Clare to the Ombudsman office more than halved last year.
The latest annual report shows 57 complaints in total were received in this county in 2020.
The number of complaints coming across Ombudsman Peter Tyndall’s desk last year was broadly the same, falling by just 6 percent nationally despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Clare bucks that trend, with the number of complaints having totalled 125 in 2019 and just 57 last year.
While the breakdown of which State body was the subject of each individual complaint isn’t provided, 12 of them were made to Clare County Council – three of them were subsequently upheld.
The report highlights one woman, who has a hearing impairment, complaining to the local authority here after she was not provided with a sign language interpreter for 2019’s local elections after being invited to the count by a candidate.
The Ombudsman decided in that instance that the Council failed to comply with National Disability Authority’s Code of Practice, and the Council accepted it should provide similar arrangements in the future if requested.
Another man complained to Clare County Council after it refused his application for a refund of motor tax for a car he had not used.
The Ombudsman said the Council should have a fair system to deal with such applications, and gave the motorist a refund of two-thirds of the motor tax he had paid.
Just eight counties recorded fewer complaints to the Office than Clare in 2020.
The full report is available here
