My Department aims to provide quality services to our customers and this is underpinned in our Customer Charter. If a customer is unhappy with the service they have received, there is a complaints procedure in place to address these instances. Details of this procedure is available on the Department's website.
The complaints procedure advises customers on making a complaint, and the steps that will be taken by Department officials to handle the complaint once it is received.
While a complaint can be made to any member of staff, a formal complaint can be made to my Department’s Customer Service Office, if it cannot be resolved at the initial point of service. Formal complaints can be made to a dedicated e-mail address, complaints@education.gov.ie, and are logged by that Office. The complaints process is clear and transparent and there have been no issues in having complaints registered under the Customer Charter.
The number of formal complaints received by my Department in 2017, 2018 and to date in 2019 are as follows:
2017: 4 formal complaints received
2018: 3 formal complaints received
To date 2019: 5 formal complaints received.