A WOMAN won arrears of £20,000 in disability benefit from the Department of Social Welfare, following an examination of her case by the Ombudsman.
The woman was suffering from advanced multiple sclerosis, and from 1987 she made a number of claims to the Department for disability benefit, but all were rejected because she had no recent history of social insurance.
She had been out of work since 1975 due to her health problems, but her condition remained undiagnosed for many years. Because of this she did not claim either disability benefit or unemployment benefit, or seek social insurance credits, so her insurance record had lapsed.
The Ombudsman's examination showed that she had been incapable of work since 1975. The Department reviewed the case and awarded her disability benefit, along with arrears of £20,000.
A threat from Kerry County Council to seek £1,000 from a farmer for cutting into his land as part of road widening work was turned into a payment of £1,500 compensation following a complaint to the Ombudsman.
The council cut into the farmer's land to widen a road without seeking his permission to do so. It removed soil and rock and dumped a considerable amount of it on to his land on the other side of the road, destroying terraced paths used by sheep, also without contacting him.
The farmer complained to the Ombudsman. He said that if the council had contacted him he would have agreed to the road widening on condition that the excess material was dumped somewhere he could use it.
The council said it had been unable to establish who owned the property and that the work was necessary because vegetation made this stretch of road hazardous. It also told him that the cost of the work was £1,000 and demanded that he pay it, or face legal proceedings.
An investigation by the Ombudsman revealed that no effort had been made by the council's roads department to find out who owned the land. Nor did it serve a notice on the farmer as required under the Roads Act 1993.
Eventually the council agreed to withdraw the charge of £1,000 and to pay compensation of £1,500.
In another case a widow was awarded £14,200 in widow's pension arrears dating back to 1996, following a complaint to the Ombudsman against the Department of Social Welfare. The Department had paid her only three months' arrears.