Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Walsh may not have the details to hand but will he come back to us detailing what the RSA would need if a policy decision were taken by the Government to have tests delivered within four weeks of application?

Regarding the NDLS offices around the country, there was a particular problem at the facility in County Clare. I do not want to get into the specifics but the witnesses are well aware of it because it was raised with them. I do not know whether there has been a complaint about it recently but before, during and after the Covid period, there was an appalling level of customer service as a result of the actions or inaction - usually the actions - of one individual. On five or six occasions, elderly people came to my office to talk about the necessity for people to make applications online. Having spoken to colleagues, my office was not unique in this. The problem was the way in which these people were treated. They were not treated with any level of compassion or understanding and this was widespread to the extent that people throughout the county were talking about it.

What measures has the RSA put in place by way of improving the quality of customer service provided at those offices? What kinds of checks and balances are in place when complaints are received? We all get complaints. People complain from time to time about the service they get in my office, particularly from me. We understand how that happens but one must try to address it. What system does the RSA have in place to address complaints that are made in regard to personnel in its office?