MINISTER ANDREWS LAUNCHES CUSTOMER SERVICE INITIATIVE

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr David Andrews T.D., today has published three Action Plans to give effect to the principles of Quality Service to the Public to which the Civil Service was committed in April this year as part of the Strategic Management Initiative programme Delivering Better Government.

The three plans will improve continuously by November 1999 the level of service offered to the Public by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The areas highlighted in the principal Action Plan, in addition to a committment to offer a high level and quality of service at all times, include a determination that all written communication to the Department will be responded to within 10 days of receipt, that the Department's premises will be made more accessible to wheelchair users and that those not satisfied with the superior service which the Department aims to provide will have means of redress. It is also intended to improve the level of service to those who wish to do their business through Irish.

There are separate Action Plans for the areas for which the Department has a statutory responsibility to deliver public service, namely the issuance of Passports and the provision of Consular and Visa services. Under these plans it is intended to continue to improve these services by, among other things, ensuring that passports applied for through the Passport Express scheme are issued within 10 working days, that the waiting time for personal callers to the Passport office is not longer than 20 minutes, by improving the volume and quality of information about the assistance which the Department can, and cannot, offer to Citizens in difficulty abroad, and, in cooperation with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, to reduce the average response time to applicants for Visas from those who wish to visit Ireland.

Copies of the Action Plans are available at any of the Department's offices in Ireland or abroad or through its Internet Website (address http://www.irlgov.ie/ iveagh). Texts of the Action Plans are attached to this release.Top