Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 November 2013
481. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider replacing the Department's LoCall numbers with a free phone number to assist members in contacting each Department. [45922/13]
View answerThe Department provides a range of contact channels for its customers including LoCall telephone numbers, face to face, e-mail, SMS (text) and through our website www.welfare.ie.
The Department receives in excess of six million telephone calls a year across its network of local offices and headquarters buildings. LoCall numbers have been in operation across the Department’s scheme areas for many years. This system has worked successfully in conjunction with the Interactive Voice Response technology to facilitate customers making contact with the appropriate section of the Department, at a low cost to the caller.
There are no plans to provide a single free phone number across the Department at this time.
In line with the principles of Quality Customer Service, the Department keeps its contact channels options under review in order to make full use of new and emerging technologies to broaden the choice of service delivery channels for customers.
