Greece’s ongoing economic crisis has given Greeks more to be sour about, especially the lack of service in public offices, with the country’s Ombudsman reporting a 26 percent increase in the numbers complaining about public administration.
That was the finding in the annual report from the office that hears gripes, although it has limited power to do anything about it.
A total of 14,738 complaints were made in 2013, which is also 38 percent up from 2011, Ombudsman Kalliope Spanou told Parliament Speaker Evangelos Meimarakis as she delivered the report.
“The proper functioning of institutions is not a luxury, even in a period of crisis,” said Spanou. “The aim of increasing public revenues tends to override all other interests,” she wrote. The Ombudsman’s annual reports typically receive some initial publicity and then are set aside by Parliament.
The most common complaints were about social security funds (28 percent of the total), followed by the Finance Ministry, which drew 17.4 percent of all gripes. The watchdog said some 54 percent of the complaints were well-founded and managed to settle 81.5 percent of them successfully.
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