Limerick City and County Council second-most complained about local authority in 2022
LIMERICK City and County Council (LCCC) was the second-most complained about local authority in 2022 after Dublin City Council, according to new statistics released by the Office of the Ombudsman.
The statistics released show that out of the 171 complaints made to the Ombudsman by people in Limerick, 86 were made about the local authority. Most complaints related to housing or planning issues. There were eight complaints about the University of Limerick.
According to a spokesperson for LCCC, the council was notified of 55 complaints out of the 86 with only two of the complaints being upheld.
“The council would not have been notified by the Ombudsman of all discontinued (or) withdrawn (DW) complaints,” the spokesperson said.
“Reasons can include where the complainant seeks to have the complaint withdrawn or does not respond, within a reasonable, specified time frame, to requests for relevant, complaint-specific, information,” they said.
It is also noteworthy that the figures published in the Ombudsman Annual Report 2022 refer to areas by local authority and not counties.
The total number of complaints across the two local authorities in Galway was 101 (Galway City Council 45, Galway County Council 56). The total number of complaints for Cork’s two local authorities was 143 (78 for Cork City Council and 65 for Cork County Council).
Both counties also have a higher population than Limerick.
The Ombudsman, Ger Deering, said 2022 saw the highest number of complaints ever received by his Office. There were 4,791 complaints about public service bodies, an increase of over 19% on 2021.
According to the report, most of the complaints to the Ombudsman about local authorities related to housing issues.
There were 790 complaints nationwide about health and social care bodies, with 300 complaints about the HSE, and 104 complaints about Tusla.