Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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285. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the efforts he is making to reduce the holding times for persons ringing various sections in his Department; if he is aware that claimants sometimes have to wait 25 minutes or more before they get to speak to a person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18236/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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In 2015, my Department answered some 8.3 million telephone calls across its network of Intreo Centres, branch offices and centralised scheme areas. In addition to the telephone service, my Department provides a range of contact channels for customers including face to face, e-mail, SMS (text), and online through our website www.welfare.ie.

My Department endeavours to provide the most responsive telephone service possible to its customers. To that effect, it has implemented a call management system across centralised scheme areas, which allows managers to monitor and manage call volumes. The system provides a flexible means of managing sudden peaks in customer demand and allows for the active management of calls by way of assigning, where feasible, more staff to the telephone lines at peak periods. The system’s report for May 2016 shows the average call waiting times to be just over two minutes, ranging from the shortest at ten seconds to the longest at eighteen minutes.

In addition, my Department has recently upgraded its IVR (Interactive Voice Technology) to improve call treatment and reduce the average time it takes for customers to reach the correct call queue to 30 seconds across all offices.

Intreo Centres, in addition to providing a telephone service, have introduced a range of initiatives aimed at streamlining claim processing in recent years. These initiatives, including a dedicated appointment service for jobseekers, aim to provide comprehensive information and advice at early claim stages, reducing the level of subsequent telephone queries.

My Department is focused on modernising its service delivery platform, making full use of new and emerging technologies to broaden the range of service delivery channels offered. The Department's new online self-service facility www.mywelfare.ie is designed to enable customers access personalised Department of Social Protection services at a time and place that suits them. A number of services have already been delivered on this new facility and more will be added on a phased basis.

In order to equip staff to deal effectively with customers, the Department provides training in customer service which includes communicating effectively with customers, effective telephone techniques, active listening and the importance of understanding and empathy. Training courses also include raising of awareness of disability, mental health and diversity issues relevant to staff and customers.

The Department has a formal comments and complaints procedure in place to allow customers give feedback on the quality of services they receive. If a customer is unhappy with the quality of service received, they can submit a complaint online at www.welfare.ie, by email to qcs@welfare.ie, by telephone to 1890 66 22 44, or in writing to Quality Customer Services, Social Welfare Services, College Road, Sligo. All such complaints will be dealt with promptly, fairly and impartially.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.