4.5 Military veterans Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following military missions receive no compensation for the damage caused by their psychological problems from the Ministry of Defence. In hundreds of cases, this has led to complex and time-consuming claims suits in the civil courts. In the course of these, the ministry has repeatedly argued that claims are beyond the prescribed period of limitation. In 2010 the National Ombudsman acted as a mediator in talks with the Ministry of Defence and the relevant military trades unions about the bases for a possible compensation scheme that would obviate the need for further civil claims. For a long time, however, no resources were allocated for the scheme. Even when the National Ombudsman made a personal appeal to the Prime Minister to take cabinet responsibility for meeting this debt of honour to the vulnerable group of veterans concerned, he was merely told to trust in the operation of the political system and that the Minister of Defence was the proper person to produce a solution to the problem. However this may be, at the end of 2011 a budget of € 110 million was at last allocated to the scheme. In late December 2011 the Senate also passed legislation appointing the National Ombudsman to act as ombudsman for military veterans. This is a welcome development, since it gives the Ombudsman a role in which he can help to rebuild their trust in government. 4.6 Concluding remarks All of these cases involved breaches of citizens’ trust in government through the failure of government to treat individual citizens properly when implementing the law. They show that citizens expect government to be open and approachable, to communicate clearly, to show them respect, and to be reliable. The case of the one-man business start-ups also shows the importance of a solutionsoriented approach.(25 ) The failure to adopt such an approach made it impossible for the two sides to develop a meaningful relationship and meant that government forfeited the trust of the people concerned. What can government do to foster public trust and confidence? A smart authority will use its concrete interactions with citizens to nurture its relationship with them and build trust. Recent trust-related cases | 16 Pagina 15
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