Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 July 2021
36. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if there are guidelines, written procedures or protocols or key performance indicators for acknowledgement of correspondence received and response to correspondence received, respectively by category of correspondence (details supplied) in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38241/21]
View answerMy Department is committed to providing the highest standard of communications, stakeholder engagement, and open and transparent dialogue in order to inform policy making and enhance our services for citizens. Our communications approach is designed to enhance our reputation and build trust through collaboration and engagement.
Our customer service experience for unsolicited correspondence is guided by our Customer Service Charter (www.gov.ie/en/publication/e4c85-department-of-communications-climate-action-environment-customer-charter-2018-2020/). This sets out how we engage with customers, including our standards for acknowledgement and responses to correspondence. The Charter was developed and published in 2018 and is due to be revised this year.
My Department has a central Customer Service unit that processes the majority of the correspondence received. Guided by the Charter, the central Customer Service team have developed a detailed set of procedures and protocols for managing and tracking correspondence, the aim is to provide customers with a comprehensive response to their query within 20 working days.
Outside of this unit, some divisions across our policy and corporate areas regularly receive unsolicited correspondence directly from the public. Where required, auto responses are set up on certain mailboxes to reassure customers that their email has reached the correct place. These messages may also contain further instructions for contacting specific areas relevant to their query.
Ministerial representations, whether from members of the public or members of the Oireachtas, are tracked, processed and replied to using the internal representations system eCorrespondence, which was built and is maintained by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. They have provided training and guidance documents which inform our use of the system.
The majority of solicited correspondence my Department receives is through our public consultations and engagement. Submissions can take several forms including free-form written responses and more structured online surveys. Our approach to consultations varies, depending on the objectives for each individual consultation. Most of our consultations have automated responses set up to inform respondents that their submission has been received, however, it is not always practical for policy divisions or business units to individually acknowledge each response.
Our overarching approach to consultations is guided by the Consultation Principles and Guidance (www.gov.ie/en/publication/e9b052-consultation-principles-and-guidance/) issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. As per this guidance, we aim to publish all submissions to our consultations on gov.ie. In some cases this is not feasible, due to the amount or nature of responses received, or where it is not possible due to the inclusion of commercially-sensitive information. In these cases we publish a summary of responses received.
Unsolicited correspondence from members of the public
Guidelines, Written Procedures, Protocols: Customer Service Charter, eCorrespondence Training and Guidance Documents Key Performance Indicators: Yes – maximum 20 working days for response
Solicited correspondence from members of the public
Guidelines, Written Procedures, Protocols: DPER Consultation Guidelines Key Performance Indicators: No
Unsolicited correspondence from TDs and Senators
Guidelines, Written Procedures, Protocols: Customer Service Charter, eCorrespondence Training and Guidance Documents Key Performance Indicators: Yes – maximum 20 working days for response
Solicited correspondence from TDs and Senators
Guidelines, Written Procedures, Protocols: DPER Consultation GuidelinesKey Performance Indicators: No
