Vol. 452 No. 5
32 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Social Welfare the facilities that are available to the public to make comments or complaints regarding social welfare services; if he will place a post box or desk in each social welfare office to accommodate such a facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8210/95]
My Department has always welcomed suggestions and comments from the public in relation to the provision of its services and it is my intention that we will become even more proactive in seeking out the views and opinions of the public in the future. Some initiatives have been taken already. In the past year, a number of local customer surveys have been carried out and the feedback from these surveys has been very useful in helping my Department improve services. It is intended to carry out a major national survey later this year.
In addition two customer panels, one drawn from unemployed people in Cork and another drawn from lone parents in the Limerick area have been set up recently. These panels provide customers with an opportunity to furnish my Department with comments, views, observations and indeed complaints about the delivery of the social welfare services.
The use of comment cards is standard practice in many organisations and it is intended to introduce such cards into social welfare local offices in the coming months. The analysis and consideration of completed comment cards will further help my Department in assessing where services can be improved and be made more responsive to individual requirements. It is my intention that comment cards will be available to the public in a significant number of offices by the end of the summer.
