Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 29 Mar 1994

Vol. 440 No. 7

Written Answers. - Public Offices Opening Hours.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

115 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether public offices serving the public under the auspices of his Department are open through lunch; if not, the length of time they are closed during lunchtime; and his views on whether lunchtime would be the most convenient time to call for many members of the public.

Minister for Social Welfare (Dr. Woods)

My Department has a network of offices throughout the country which provide a service to the public. Two of the offices in Oisín House and Gandon House in central Dublin are open to the public during lunch time.

The length of time that my Department's other offices close during lunch time varies slightly but in the vast majority of cases the closure is over the two hour period from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

The experience of the two offices that remain open during lunchtime, is that lunchtime is not a busy time. The types of queries made at these two offices suggest that those making them are not tied to normal working hours and it is likely that they would find times other than lunchtime equally suitable for them.

The Deputy will be aware that I set up a regional management structure so that service to the public could be improved in various ways. One of the main aims of this structure is to introduce a better service at local level, including a one-stop-shop where a service extending over the whole range of my Department's schemes can be provided. The changes necessary to bring this about are at an advanced stage and in the context of providing a better local service to our customers, I am looking at the issue of opening hours to see what additional improvements can be made.