Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 July 2021
83. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Finance 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. [38242/21]
View answerIn October 2018, a new correspondence management solution, ‘eCorrespondence’, was rolled out in my Department with the aim of streamlining the internal processing and management of correspondence. This application, provided under the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer’s (OGCIO) Build to Share programme, is used to electronically capture, prioritise, track and respond to correspondence in a single system. The eCorrespondence system has inbuilt guidance notes for staff on how to use the system.
While my Department deals with a high volume of correspondence, the eCorrespondence system allows for in-built date deadlines to be adjusted to respond earlier to urgent or high priority correspondence.
I would also draw the Deputy’s attention to my Department’s Quality Customer Service Action Plan and Charter 2021-2023, available on my Department's website, which sets out the overall level of service that all customers can expect when dealing with my Department.
In line with procedures in place, the following is an overview of the process in place when acknowledging and responding to the specified categories of correspondence received by my Office:
|
Category of Correspondence |
Minister’s Office Acknowledgement / Response |
|
Unsolicited correspondence from members of the public |
Received in Minister’s eMailbox: (1) Auto-acknowledgement issues on receipt; (2) Assigned on eCorrespondence system to appropriate officials for response; or (3) Transferred to appropriate Government Department Received by Post: (4) Assigned electronically (on eCorrespondence) to appropriate officials for response; or (5) Transferred electronically to appropriate Government Department |
|
Solicited correspondence from members of the public |
Received in Minister’s eMailbox: (1) Auto-acknowledgement issues on receipt; (2) Assigned on eCorrespondence system to appropriate officials for response; or (3) Transferred to appropriate Government Department Received by Post: (4) Assigned electronically (on eCorrespondence) to appropriate officials for response; or (5) Transferred electronically to appropriate Government Department |
|
Unsolicited correspondence from TDs and Senators |
Received in Minister’s eMailbox: (1) Auto-acknowledgement issues on receipt; (2) Assigned on eCorrespondence system to appropriate officials for response; or (3) Transferred to appropriate Government Department Received by Post: (4) Assigned electronically (on eCorrespondence) to appropriate officials for response; or (5) Transferred electronically to appropriate Government Department. |
|
Solicited correspondence from TDs and Senators |
Received in Minister’s eMailbox: (1) Auto-acknowledgement issues on receipt; (2) Assigned on eCorrespondence system to appropriate officials for response. Received by Post: (3) Assigned on eCorrespondence system to appropriate officials for response. |
