Customer Care

Customer Charter

Courtesy and Consideration  

We will:  

• Deal with you promptly and in a courteous manner;  
• Treat you fairly and with respect;  
• Give you the best possible service and provide helpful advice;  
• Maintain privacy and confidentiality, where necessary.  

Openness and Impartiality  

We will:  

• Be honest and open in dealing with you;  
• Discuss any aspect of your dealings with us;  
• Explain the decision-making procedures;  
• Deal with you in an equitable manner.  

Our Performance  

We will:  

• Review and evaluate our performance;  
• Evaluate the development and delivery of our services in order to meet the needs of all customers;     
• Provide appropriately trained employees to ensure best possible quality service delivery;      
• Maximise the benefits of Information Communications Technologies to continuously improve service delivery.  

Accessibility  

We will:  

• Continue to proactively support a culture of universal accessibility for all our services;  
• Ensure that all our offices are accessible for people with disabilities and special needs and comply with all occupational and safety standards.  

Services through Irish  

We will ensure that:  

• Customers who wish to conduct their business in Irish can do so, insofar as is  possible;  
• Documents are available in Irish and English.  

Our promise to you  

• We will answer all telephone calls promptly and courteously.  
• Tell you who you are speaking to when we answer the phone.  
• Reply to your letters as soon as possible.  
• Meet you punctually if you have an appointment.  
• Do our utmost to accommodate you if you don’t have an appointment.  
• If a staff member is on leave, you will be advised that an alternative staff member will be dealing with their cases.  
• Voice Mail will be regularly updated advising when staff are not available.  
• We will update our website and social media on events and issues arising that affect you our customers/citizens.  

If we cannot answer your letter or email immediately  

• We will acknowledge your communication within 7 working days.  
• In most cases, we will give you an answer within 28 working days.  
• If we cannot do this, we will communicate to explain why, and tell you when you will receive a full reply.  
• If your correspondence relates to a matter that comes within the remit of another public body, we will direct the correspondence to that body and inform you accordingly.  

Dealing ‘impartially’ with you means  

• We will ensure your rights to equal treatment as established by equality legislation are adhered to and that people in similar circumstances are dealt with in a like manner.  
• We will make decisions based on what is relevant in the rules and law and ignoring what is irrelevant.  

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.  

The Customer's Role  

In order to get the best possible service from us we would ask that you note the following:  

• You should quote reference numbers where available when corresponding with the Council.  
• You should ensure that application forms are submitted on time.  
• You should check that all forms are fully, accurately and legibly completed and signed prior to submission. Please also ensure that all supporting documentation requested is submitted.  
• You should inform us of changes of circumstances, which might affect the decision made by us.  

Our aim is to give you a high quality of service in a safe and secure environment. To achieve this, you are requested to treat our staff in the way that you would like to be treated yourself. We will not accept:  

• The use of offensive or inappropriate language towards staff or members of the public.  
• The use of violence or the threat of violence towards staff or members of the public.