Last year saw the highest number of complaints ever reported to the Office of the Ombudsman, with a total of 4,791 complaints about public service bodies - a rise of over 19 per cent compared to 2021.
In particular, the Ombudsman received 92 complaints about the Road Safety Authority (RSA), while 38 complaints about the National Transport Authority (NTA) were recorded in 2022.
The RSA received complaints relating to difficulties applying for and renewing driving licences, as well as arranging driving tests. The NTA was criticised for its handling of complaints and processing clamping appeals.
Case studies - NCT errors
The Ombudsman's annual report also includes various case studies of upheld complaints in 2022.
One of these was a car's value being significantly lowered after an NCT centre accidentally added 40,000km to its odometer - which its owner only noticed when she tried to sell her car.
After the owner complained to the National Car Testing Service, it informed her that the reading could not be changed back, as any errors within the NCT's process needed to be brought to its attention at the time of the NCT.
The Ombudsman cited several COVID-19 restrictions in place when the owner took her car for its NCT, such as encouraging drivers to leave the NCT centre as soon as possible once the test had concluded - meaning that notices explaining the NCT's policy may have been missed.
Ultimately, the NCT apologised for the error once the Ombudsman intervened in the matter, eventually issuing a new NCT certificate with the correct odometer reading.
Driving licence mishandling
A common criticism of the RSA was its handling of driving licence-related matters - including an instance where a woman was refused a driving licence despite providing all of the relevant documentation to apply for one.
When the case was investigated by the Ombudsman, he found that some documents - namely medical reports and evidence - were submitted in a file type that was not accepted by the RSA.
The RSA had not made it clear to applicants which file types it does or does not accept - something indicated to them by the Ombudsman. The RSA apologised to the applicant in question, refunded to her the cost of providing a medical report and also issued her a driving licence.