Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 November 2021
580. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Social Protection when local Intreo offices will return to their pre-Covid-19 activities; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that phone lines are not being manned in Intreo offices; when this will be remedied; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52233/21]
View answerI can confirm to the Deputy that in-person appointments are available at all Intreo centres and that all of these centres are open 5 days per week, as are our branch offices. Offices are open for walk-in service each morning and for appointments all day to 5pm. The current arrangements, are working well, but will be kept under review, in light of public health advice and the demand for services.
If a person wishes to make an in-person appointment for any of the Department's services, they can contact their local Intreo Centre or Branch Office and an appointment will be arranged for them. Contact details for all our offices are available on www.gov.ie.
We have also enhanced and developed other means of accessing my Department's services during the pandemic including by telephone and online and, for most people, these have worked well. Many people are now using www.gov.ie to obtain information and our easy to use online portal www.MyWelfare.ie to apply for various income supports. We would encourage people to continue to use these options wherever possible.
In addition, a National Intreo Contact Centre (NICC) has been established to deal with customer queries coming through a number of channels, including phone, to the Intreo Centres.
The NICC provides an integrated service to the customer and where a query cannot be dealt with on the initial phone contact, the NICC will engage with the local Intreo Centre to escalate the query to the area that can resolve it. To date, our officers are directly resolving approximately 86% of all queries that come to them with the balance escalated to local Intreo Centre staff as appropriate.
I trust this clarifies the matter.
