Liam Aylward
Ceist:20 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Social Welfare whether he will follow the example of the Revenue Commissioners by introducing a charter of rights for social welfare customers. [10375/96]
Written Answers. - Charter of Rights.
Considerable progress has already been made by the Department in improving the quality of its services in the context of the strategic management initiative—SMI—recently launched by the Government. The SMI process has presented the Department with the opportunity to build on the various initiatives and developments of recent years. High priority has been given to the development of a customer service strategic action programme, the primary objective of which is to develop the existing customer service culture across all activities of the Department. It is the intention that best practice standards for every aspect of customer service will be set and published and appropriate mechanisms for customer participation will be established. Whether this will include a charter of rights, as such, will be decided upon as the action programme is developed.