Case study: Civil Service

The Department of Education and Science engaged in "serious maladministration" in its failure to meet an agreed payment of arrears…

The Department of Education and Science engaged in "serious maladministration" in its failure to meet an agreed payment of arrears due to a retired school teacher, the Ombudsman's report stated.

The Ombudsman said she received a complaint from a former secondary school teacher who had not received an honours degree allowance while in work from 1957 to 1998.

The complainant applied for the appropriate arrears and eventually received a payment from the department in 2002 backdated to 1957. However, he believed he should be entitled to compensation for loss of purchasing power.

"Having examined the background to the complaint, I requested the department to review this case with a view to awarding appropriate redress," the report stated.

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The Department of Education agreed to make such a payment, taking account of inflation, and the case was closed.

However, the Ombudsman said that six months later she had to reopen the file as the money had not been paid.

"I regard the failure by a public body to honour a commitment made as serious maladministration. Following my further intervention, the department paid the complainant the sum of €46,513", the report stated.