Written Answers. - Departmental E-mail System.
Seán Haughey
Question:
154
Mr. Haughey
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
the e-mail address to which members of the public should send queries relating to her Department; if her Department routinely replies to e-mails sent by the public; the timescale for such responses; if e-mail inquiries addressed to officials in her Department are also processed within that timescale; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[1048/01]
Richard Bruton
Question:
170
Mr. R. Bruton
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment
the arrangements she has in place to respond to e-mail queries to the address posted on the Department's website; the number of e-mail queries received during the last quarter of 2000; the number of these which had not received any response from the Department by 19 January 2001; and if she will make a statement on the adequacy of the system for responding to such e-mail queries.
[1952/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 154 and 170 together.
Members of the public should send e-mail queries relating to my Department to Webmaster@entemp.ie, which is the address posted on the Department's website. Alternatively, certain units of my Department have individual addresses indicated in the relevant area of the website, and where the query is of a specific nature, it can be addressed directly to the unit concerned. My Department replies to all e-mail queries and has the following arrangements in place to deal with them.
All e-mails to the Webmaster receive an automatic acknowledgement. Routine e-mails are responded to directly by the Webmaster within three working days of receipt. E-mails requiring research are dealt with in the same manner as conventional correspondence and are, where necessary, referred for reply to the relevant section within my Department. In these instances, the Webmaster informs the correspondent within two working days that his or her query has been sent to a named official within my Department for direct reply.
While response times will vary depending on the nature and complexity of the query, every effort is made to provide a prompt response. If there is going to be a delay, it is the policy of my Department under its customer service plan to issue an interim reply explaining the position. These standards apply to all officials within my Department, whether e-mailed directly or indirectly through the Webmaster.
In the last quarter of 2000 the Webmaster received 676 e-mail queries, all of which have been responded to as described above. Records are not collated regarding the number of e-mails addressed to specific units or individuals.
In the framework of the Government's action plan on implementing the information society and the delivery of a quality service to my Department's customers, I have made the on-line and timely delivery of services, of which e-mail is a constituent part, an integral part of my Department's strategy over the coming three years.
Question No. 155 answered with Question No. 153.
