An example of some of the cases dealt with by the Ombudsman's office last year.
Dead woman's wedding rings went missing
A ROSCOMMON family received €5,000 in compensation after the mother's wedding rings disappeared after she died and her body was sent for postmortem.
A Garda investigation had failed to discover how the rings went missing after they had been taped to her fingers after her death.
Roscommon County Council accepted that a list of the woman's belongings had not been made, but pointed out that the woman had acute medical needs.
Although offered €3,000 compensation by the HSE's insurers, the family had sought an extra payment to cover solicitors' bills, which was initially refused by the HSE.
However, HSE senior management conceded a €5,000 claim, plus legal costs, when approached by the ombudsman's office.
Man (89) denied pension received €25,000 in arrears
AN 89-YEAR-OLD man who was denied a €114-a-week pension by the Department of Social and Family Affairs received €25,000 in pension arrears after an ombudsman's investigation.
The man had applied for one of the half-pensions offered to people who do not have enough insurance stamps for the full contributory pension.
He believed that he had enough stamps, but the Department of Social and Family Affairs could track down only 109 of the 253 stamps required - although it then lost his file.
Following a complaint by the man to the ombudsman, the file was quickly tracked down and it became clear that he had in fact the necessary number of stamps.
His application was subsequently approved and he received the €114 pension, plus €25,000 in arrears.
Once brought to its attention, the Department of Social and Family Affairs took "swift action to rectify matters", the ombudsman found.
€10,000 cut from loan repayments to council
LIMERICK COUNTY Council reduced a house refurbishment loan by €10,000 after the ombudsman found that it had failed to tell a woman about the proper cost of the work.
The loan was given by the local authority to cover the repairs to the privately-owned house under the Improvement Works in Lieu Scheme.
The work cost €24,265, but because of "a lack of clarity" the woman believed that the bill would be €10,000 less, and she was not told of the higher bill for several years.
Blaming the confusion on the number of tenders, the local authority was unable to show that the woman was ever told the correct price.
On three occasions since the loan repayments began, the council's solicitors referred to the wrong figure in letters to the woman's solicitor.
Following the ombudsman's call to cut the debt because of the woman's low income, the council agreed to reduce it by €10,000 and put in place new rules to prevent a repeat.