Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1306. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of complaints submitted to her Department in 2017, 2018 and to date in 2019; the number of appeals made with respect to the outcome of such complaints; the number referred to the Office of the Ombudsman; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13780/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department is committed to providing the highest quality of service at all times.  The scale of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is very significant; it deals with over 70 separate schemes and services. In 2017 it processed 82.2 million individual payments, with an average of 1.6 million weekly social welfare payments being made every single week. At all times, the Department strives to provide a high quality service. Our Service Charter and Action Plan sets out the commitments and standard of service that customers can expect when interacting with the Department.

We have a dedicated Customer Service Unit that receives and processes a wide range of feedback from customers on their experiences with the Department. The number of complaints the Unit recorded in 2017, 2018 and to date in 2019 is outlined in Table 1.

The Department does not have any access to data on the number of complaints which are progressed to the Office of the Ombudsman.  

Number of Complaints received: (Table 1)

Table. 1

Number of complaints recorded in the year 2017 and 2018, and year to date to 20 March 2019.

I trust this answers the matter for the Deputy.