Vol. 529 No. 1
1091 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the e-mail address to which members of the public should send queries relating to his Department; if his Department routinely replies to e-mails sent by the public; the timescale for such responses; if e-mail inquiries addressed to officials in his Department are also processed within that timescale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1060/01]
1104 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Tourism Sport and Recreation the arrangements he 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 he will make a statement on the adequacy of the system for responding to such e-mail queries. [1964/01]
I propose to deal with Questions Nos. 1091 and 1104 together.
My Department's e-mail address for general queries from the public is webmaster@tourism-sport.irlgov.ie. In addition, the Department operates specific e-mail addresses for aspects of its work in which the public may have a particular interest. For example, a specific e-mail address was advertised in December 2000 for requests for information and application forms under the 2001 sports capital programme which is sports unit@tourism-sport.irlgov.ie. My Department's e-mail address for queries under the Freedom of Information Act is foi@tourism-sport.irlgov.ie. Furthermore all officers of the Department have individual internet e-mail addresses which are used as appropriate for official business.
While the Department's quality customer service action plan published in December 1997 does not specifically refer to e-mail queries, nevertheless, every effort is made to ensure that the principles set out in the plan are applied in the case of such queries. These include the aim to provide a definitive reply within 20 working days.
I am happy to say that e-mail queries to the sports capital programme website are dealt with well within that timeframe and e-mail queries relating to the Freedom of Information Act are dealt with in accordance with the timeframes laid down in the Act.
General e-mail queries to the Department which are received via the Department's website are routinely monitored centrally and distributed to the relevant divisions within the Department and/or to State agencies under its aegis as appropriate for direct reply or for data to be collated centrally before a reply issues. During the last quarter of 2000, 19 general e-mail queries were received via the Department's website and by 19 January 2001, ten of those queries had received responses. The remainder have now been dealt with.
My Department constantly keeps its procedures for dealing with queries from the public, including e-mail queries under review to ensure the best possible service is provided and is currently in the process of updating its quality customer service action plan. I expect the new plan to be available in early April.
