Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 1: To ask the Taoiseach the progress made to date by the quality customer service working group within his Department established under the strategic management initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28196/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 2: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the quality customer service working group in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32150/06]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

The quality customer service working group is one of four groups which, in recent years, have been actively developing and promoting the quality customer service, QCS, initiative in the public service. The other groups include the QCS officers' network, a research group and a group dealing with equality and diversity issues. These groups are active, to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the issues which are current at the time.

The QCS officers' network has been working intensively on the development and promotion of the customer charter initiative, including its extension to bodies under the aegis of Departments and offices. This is an important initiative whereby Departments and offices publicly commit to service standards and report on progress made. The QCS officers' network met four times so far this year and its next meeting is scheduled for the end of November.

Similarly, the QCS research group has been very active in recent months, including on the development of a major survey of customer satisfaction levels and attitudes towards Civil Service Departments. The group has also been assisting with the development of the specification for a major review of the customer charter process by independent experts. The group has met four times this year to date and its next meeting is scheduled for the end of October.

Against the background of intensive activity by other QCS groups, it has not been necessary for some time for the QCS working group to meet and its last full meeting was in October 2004. In the meantime, QCS issues are reviewed at the regular meetings of the implementation group of secretaries general, of which the QCS working group is a sub-group.

All QCS groups are serviced by the same unit in my Department, which also provides the secretariat for the implementation group of secretaries general, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department. It oversees the full change and modernisation programme for the Civil Service and public service. The QCS working group remains available to look at issues that may require specific review.

Quality customer service is at the core of the modernisation programme for the Civil Service. Improvements in the level of customer service ultimately depend on the commitment of management and staff in each Department, office and agency. I have no doubt that awareness of the importance of better customer service is increasing right across the public service. For example, earlier this year I presented 20 awards to projects which made a significant contribution to public service excellence. These projects were selected from over 150 applications, most of which were making a real improvement to the services being delivered on the ground in the areas of health, education and local government.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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With regard to the principles of quality consumer service which have been mentioned, the undertaking is to provide clean, accessible public offices that ensure privacy, comply with occupational and safety standards and, as part of this, facilitate access for people with disabilities and others with specific needs. Has the implementation group of secretaries general performed an audit of how far we are along the road towards 100% accessibility to public buildings for disabled persons?

No more than any other public representative, I fail to understand how engineering concepts, in many cases, at the entrances and exits to public buildings leave footpaths that are a foot high in some cases. It is impossible for people to go along their way. The same applies throughout every town and village in the country. These are public access points. Has a direction been given in that regard or has an audit been carried out? How far are we from 100% accessibility?

The same terms put an onus on Departments and agencies to provide choice, where feasible, for persons to have service delivery, including payment methods, made available with multiple choice where that is so. Why, for example, can a person wishing to acquire information under the Freedom of Information Act not pay for it with a credit card or Laser card? There is e-government, a multiple choice for paying ESB and telephone bills etc., and the money is sometimes gone before the person knows it. Sometimes a service is cut off before a person finds out the payment was not made.

With regard to public service and access, why do we not have an option for multiple choice, as is contained in the terms of reference? For example, those people looking for information under the Freedom of Information Act cannot pay by credit card or Laser card.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Niall Crowley of the Equality Authority chaired the equality and diversity sub-group in the past. That sub-group assisted in the preparation of the support pack for equality and diversity aspects of all the QCS, which was issued to all Departments and offices. That sub-group also advised on the working and commission of the research group on equality and diversity issues. That was circulated to Departments and offices. Equality issues are also included by Departments and offices in the production of their customer charters and customer action plans. That is the broad issue of equality.

On the issue of accessibility, a direction was given some years ago to all Departments and agencies to have wheelchair accessibility. I do not have a figure covering Departments and agencies, but all the major Departments at that time, about six or seven years ago, undertook a fair amount of construction work, with the installation of wheelchair lifts, and other work to deal with the issue. I do not know if it is the case in every single agency but it certainly is in all the main Departments. The work includes toilets and other areas such as side doors, where a number of difficulties arose because some entrances were impossible to ramp.

Although not applying to every Department, this year the sectoral plans, published in July following consultation with the National Disability Authority, set out what was to happen in the wider public service, such as transport. To the best of my knowledge, there was no question on disability in the survey. If that was the case, I will raise it in time to obtain a figure in the next survey, which should be easy to do.

The Deputy's second question was on what the QCS groups were endeavouring to do. They are endeavouring to make use of the benefits of technology across the Departments to make it easier for people to access information. The big issue surrounds night-time availability, in addition to the service provided during the day, such as exists for motor taxation, which is a hugely popular service with the public. Farmers' schemes also exist, which the agricultural community uses a lot. An e-payment system will come in from 1 January 2007 so that almost all payments will be made using technology. All the time the service is building up its capacity to use technology.

Most of these developments are taking place under the encouragement of QCS groups in Departments. The service is constantly extending the use of technology so that people can fill in forms electronically. Some areas have not been able to make such good progress but for the most part, across the service, technology is being used to make services more accessible and to offer a 24-hour service so that people can access them any time of the night or at weekends.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Conas is féidir leis an QCS freastal ar dhaoine a dhéanann a ngnó trí Ghaeilge? De réir mar a thuigim, ní bheidh ach 3% den Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta, mar shampla, in ann gnó a dhéanamh trí Ghaeilge. An bhfuil sé mar chuid den seirbhís go mbeidh céatadán áirithe de na daoine i ngach Roinn — Roinn an Taoisigh, mar shampla — in ann gnó a dhéanamh trí Ghaeilge?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The intention is that, for people who wish to do business through Irish, every Department and agency have staff capable and competent to deal with them over the telephone or by e-mail.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Is the Taoiseach sure that is the case?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Every Department has people who can deal with telephone calls, e-mails and personal visits through Irish, which is the intention of QCS groups. It is difficult for every section to have people competent in Irish, especially specialist sections, although they are trying to achieve that, but in Departments as a whole there is adequate competence. The easiest aspect of the service, namely answering e-mails or letters, can always be delivered through Irish but it is not always easy to have someone at a desk or manning a telephone line.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Is it part of recruitment policy?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is still part of general recruitment to the Civil Service that people be competent in all aspects of Irish. They do not have problems in Departments as a whole, but they may do so in individual sections. However, they are trying to make progress as part of the customer charter.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Does the Government intend to extend this initiative, which the Taoiseach thinks has produced results in the Civil Service, into other areas of the public service? The Taoiseach's remarks about staff in the health service caused much grief to many members of staff although they may have misunderstood or misinterpreted him. Many staff, such as nurses, were upset by remarks that might be interpreted as meaning that they do not work hard or long enough. That is not the case for nurses, as I am sure the Taoiseach will agree. Does he think that some formal system such as the QCS ought to be tried, for example, in the health services?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I said last week at the IBEC HR conference that there is a need to consider introducing more flexibility in how we deal with customers. I gave three examples, local authorities, the education service and the health service. I said this means more flexible hours, more flexible working weeks and more flexible systems, and I stand over that. I was not talking about the health sector because it applies equally to all parts of the public sector. The three examples I mentioned in my contribution and when answering questions were local government, education and the central Civil Service. These improvements are being made. Many public offices now stay open for longer hours, through lunchtime and earlier and later in the day. Customers are being facilitated in this way. This is a major change from the way the service operated only a few years ago.

We must make progress in that regard. As I said last week, at a time when the levels of investment in terms of capital expenditure and equipment, are historically high, we need to ensure that there is flexibility in working patterns, and there is nothing new in this. The issue arose in the social partnership and the relevant section in the partnership spells out that we have to facilitate the work of organisations to provide improved customer service delivery. There are needs in certain areas for changes in HRM practices to provide services outside the work that is regarded as traditional.

I did not mention any category of health staff, but nurses already work 24 hours a day so they would be excluded from this change. There are sections in the health services which I did not mention that are open for only six or seven hours a day and have very costly equipment. I repeat the point that they should be open longer.

Much of what the customer service group put forward is already happening in local authorities, for example, in the motor taxation division, in the Revenue Commissioners and the agricultural payment schemes. They are all large sections. I forget the percentage but the on-line motor taxation registration is a high proportion of the overall figure. The agricultural payments scheme has gone from a very low proportion of on-line business to a high one.

The Revenue Commissioners have been doing this for several years and will extend it to the PAYE sector, which is a large sector. From January the e-payments system for the public service will go to a new level. While it has promoted e-payments for the past few years, it will go almost totally on-line. The service is rolling out the system and constantly uses technology to try to improve the services. The benefit is that it is possible for people to use the service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, although the staff are not there all that time. People are doing their transactions at home in the evenings and at weekends, which the service can then pick up. The public has taken to this to an even greater extent than was envisaged five years ago.