Increase in public services complaints should be wake-up call for Government

Sir, – The ombudsman’s revelation that complaints about public services have hit their highest level in more than 30 years should be a wake-up call for the Government (“Ombudsman finds ‘no evidence’ council called or emailed man removed from housing list”, News, July 7^th).

The fact that thousands of citizens had to formally complain about being treated unfairly by local councils, the HSE and Government departments shows a deeply worrying trend. It is particularly shocking to read of cases where individuals were removed from housing lists with no paper trail or explanation.

As a country we are generating record-breaking tax surpluses, yet the everyday experience of trying to deal with Irish bureaucracy has never felt more broken, cold or unaccountable.

Money is clearly not the issue here; culture and competence are. Our public bodies seem to have forgotten they exist to serve the public, not to hide behind red tape and automated email replies. It’s time for real accountability for those managing these failing services. - Yours, etc,