Roscommon County Council – Customer Charter
Whether your business is conducted in person, by telephone or by correspondence we will seek to ensure that you are treated:
promptly and in a courteous manner
with due regard to privacy and confidentiality
by friendly and helpful staff
This Charter sets out the standards of service you may expect from Roscommon County Council.
General Information
We will provide information that is accurate, up to date and easily understood
Ensure that application forms and information leaflets are widely available
Continue to review and, where possible, simplify forms, information leaflets, processes and procedures.
Ensure that the potential offered by Information Technology is fully availed of and identify further services that would be appropriate for delivery electronically
Continue to develop our internal and external websites and ensure that all information is accurate and up to date.
Prominently display the hours of service in all public offices/counters and on our website
Telephone Service
When telephoning our offices you can expect that we will
Answer quickly and courteously
Give our name and section when answering calls
Be as helpful and informative as possible
Take your contact number if information is not immediately available, and write or ring with a reply within a nominated time
If it is necessary to transfer you to a different department, we will tell you why and give you its name and telephone number
Provide voicemail facility to allow you to leave a message outside of normal office hours, or where staff are absent. Messages will be responded to promptly.
Personal Callers
If you visit our offices you can expect that we will:
Ensure that the reception area is properly staffed during office opening hours
Identify ourselves and be courteous and fair in all our dealings
Respect your privacy and ensure that all matters are dealt with in a confidential manner
Provide private interview room where possible and appropriate
Deal with your enquiry as quickly as possible
Aim to keep appointments punctually
You are requested to deal with our front-line staff as far as possible in relation to enquiries. For non-routine matters, or if you need to meet a specific person, you are advised that you should make an appointment in advance to ensure that the appropriate person is present and available.
Written and Electronic Correspondence
If you write to us with an enquiry you can expect that we will:
Issue a comprehensive reply within, at most, 4 weeks of our receiving your letter - this undertaking does not in any way affect statutory deadlines.
Use simple language and avoid the use of technical terms where possible
Ensure that all correspondence carries a contact name and a contact number, and a reference number where appropriate.
Applications/Claims:
In making applications/claims you can expect that we will:
Seek only necessary information and explain precisely what is required
Make a decision as quickly as possible on receipt of a valid application (i.e. fully completed and supported by necessary documentation) and within statutory deadlines.
Deal with all applications fairly and consistently in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations and give reasons for our decisions.
Equality and Impartiality
We will ensure the rights to equal treatment established by equality legislation are adhered to and that people in similar circumstances are dealt with in a like manner
Physical Access
We will, as far as possible, provide clean, accessible public offices that ensure privacy, comply with occupational and safety standards and facilitate access for all our customers.
Choice
We will seek to provide choice, where feasible, in service delivery including payment methods, location of contact points and opening hours.
Services through Irish
All customers have the right to do their business with us through the medium of Irish or English. We will aim to have staff available to deal with you should you contact us through Irish.
Appeal/Review
We will operate a system of appeal/review for customers who are dissatisfied with decisions in relation to services whereby such decisions can be looked at again and reviewed.
Accountability
We will monitor compliance and complete annual reviews of standards and performance and publish details of performance achieved against service indicators across the range of Council services in our Annual Report.
Help us to Help you
We welcome and encourage you to provide us with your views on our standard of service delivery. To assist us in meeting our service standards it would be appreciated if you would provide us with as much information as possible in dealing with your query. You are requested to quote any relevant reference number in all communications and to ensure that application forms are fully, accurately and legibly completed and signed prior to submission. Please ensure that all supporting documentation requested is submitted and that you advise us of any changes in circumstances which might have a bearing on your application. You are also requested to treat our staff in the way that you would like to be treated yourself.
Complaints
Complaints in relation to the quality of any of our services should be made to the relevant Department Head who will review the matter. All complaints received will be acknowledged within 1 week and processed within 4 weeks. Where a mistake has been made an apology and explanation will be offered and every effort will be made to rectify the matter. Where a complaint highlights that our processes or procedures are deficient, every effort will be made to remedy the situation as quickly as possible. An appeals procedure in relation to customer complaints is also available.
A Customer Complaint Form is available in all of our public offices and on this website.
