Complaint to Ombudsman leads to housing offer for Limerick woman
Sisters Sheila and Fiona complained to the Ombudsman at the Ombudsman’s Complaint Clinic in Limerick that they had been refused housing supports by Limerick Council
A TOTAL of 170 complaints about public services were by from people living in Limerick to the ombudsman, Ger Deering, in 2025.
Among these were sisters Sheila and Fiona who complained to the Ombudsman at the Ombudsman’s Complaint Clinic in Limerick that they had been refused housing supports by Limerick City and County Council.
Both sisters had been homeless for several years and had first applied for housing supports 20 years ago.
Their applications were closed by the Council, following a failure to respond to the Social Housing Assessment (SHA) 2013. The sisters were not aware of the closure of their applications.
Having examined the Council’s files, the Ombudsman identified gaps in communication and was unable to see what efforts were made by the Council to contact both sisters regarding the SHAs.
The files showed that both sisters kept in contact with the Council over the years, providing a number of addresses and explaining their circumstances. While this may not have always been done in a timely manner, it was clear that both women continued to engage with the Council with an understanding that they remained on the housing list.
Having considered the circumstances of this case, particularly the prolonged homelessness experienced by both sisters and the information from the Council’s files, the Ombudsman recommended that the Council use its discretion to backdate the applications to when the sisters first qualified for social housing supports in 2006 and 2008, respectively.
This recommendation was accepted by the Council and one of the sisters was made a housing offer.
A total of 68 complaints were made about the local authority last year while 17 complaints were made about UL and 21 about UHL.