My Department has put in place a detailed Customer Charter which sets out the processes, standards and outlines expectations for any external contact with the Department.
As set out in the Customer Charter, the standards which my Department endeavours to adhere to include the following:
• acknowledge receipt of correspondence within 2 working days;
• written response within 20 working days, where possible;
• use of clear and plain language, with explanation of any technical terms as necessary; and
• provision of service through the Irish Language, per the Official Language Act requirements.
An eCorrespondence system is the preferred method of managing such communications as it provides both official record keeping as aligned with the Department’s obligations under the National Archives Act, as well as allowing for monitoring of correspondence levels and response performances.
The eCorrespondence system is monitored and managed within the Department for compliance with the above. Reminders are sent to Divisions where timelines are not met.
While my Department endeavours to meet its obligations as set out above, each individual request must be addressed on its own merit and in its own context. The broad remit of my Department can mean that some requests, particularly those which address specialist or technical matters, can move beyond the 20 working day response timeline to ensure and accurate and comprehensive response.
I have directly engaged with officials in my Department to update and improve the eCorrespondence and general response system in the Department. I am confident that measures have now been taken to ensure consistency in response standards and timing.
My Department will continue to monitor the overall performance of the eCorrespondence system and will seek at all times to adhere as closely as possible to the customer charter in order to ensure that all requests are dealt with appropriately.
