Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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34. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her view on the report commissioned by a coalition of non-governmental organisations, including FLAC, Doras Luimní, Nasc and Crosscare, which highlighted serious customer service issues including racism and rudeness to immigrants on the part of some social welfare officers. [4910/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The report in question: “Person or Number? 2” was produced by a group of NGOs dealing with migrants. It draws heavily on 35 case studies as its main source of information. It is important to be clear at the outset that these 35 cases are not a random sample of social welfare customers, but were drawn only from a selection of people who sought help from outside agencies.The 35 cases, while important individually, also need to be seen in the context that the Department pays about 1.45 million customers each week and nearly 88.5 million payments were made last year . The Department is proud to have a long history of superb customer service and has been considered a leader in this area in the public service. In that context, regardless of how small or unrepresentative the number of sample cases is, it is unacceptable that any customer of the Department of Social Protection should feel that they have been subjected to inappropriate behaviour and/or language, or left in a situation where they feel they cannot access their entitlements. If the relevant groups are willing to send details of these cases to the Department, the specific allegations will be investigated. Unfortunately, without specific details, it is not possible to take action in relation to the individual cases.The Department provides many services to assist customers (including migrants) in their dealings with the Department. These include:

- Translations: Translation services are provided to and from all languages, on request. The majority of translations paid for by the Department relate to supporting documentation required for processing customer claims such as birth, marriage or death certificates, medical reports and statements relating to customers’ circumstances. In 2014 almost 4,000 documents were translated to / from over 50 languages.

- Interpretations: Interpretation services are provided on request, where necessary to facilitate customers in their engagement with the Department, where English is not the customer’s first language. The service is provided by way of either a 3-way phone conversation, or a face-to-face service, where an interpreter attends in person to facilitate customer/staff interaction.

- Training: The Staff Development Unit of the Department provides a range of staff training courses which focus on the delivery of quality customer service. This training includes the raising of awareness of disability, mental health and diversity issues relevant to staff and customers.

In addition, operational guidelines and other support and materials are available to staff to assist them in their interactions with customers.