asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that much inconvenience and dissatisfaction are caused by the failure to reply to or acknowledge letters sent to his Department by Deputies and members of the public, and if he will take steps to remedy this state of affairs.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS ORAL ANSWERS. - ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF LETTERS.
The general practice is to acknowledge letters immediately on their receipt in the Department, and replies are sent as soon as practicable. If the Deputy will furnish me with particulars of any case in which there has been cause for complaint through the absence of acknowledgment or reply, I shall have inquiry made.
Will the Minister take it that this is a general complaint? I am quite sure that five-sevenths of the Deputies would confirm the complaint that the Deputy makes in that question. It has been a complaint both from the Deputies and from the public in respect of his Department, that they cannot get answers, or even acknowledgments, to their letters.
I could deal with the matter much better if I had specific cases. Deputies should know that sometimes there is an enormous mass of correspondence. I know that on several days recently when I made inquiry there were letters to the extent of 2,500 per day coming into my Department. Naturally, a certain amount of delay will take place, and I really would have to have a specific instance to know if there was unreasonable delay. You cannot put in a permanent staff to deal with an occasional spate of correspondence.
The Minister is thinking of the days just prior to the introduction of the Budget. But three months and seven months ago the same complaint was fairly general.
If the Minister will look up a letter I sent him yesterday, he will find a specific complaint.
In any case where a specific complaint reaches me I will trace the matter up.